Magical Girl Roommates
by BunnyHeartMedicine
Summary: After the events of Rebellion every single magical girl is rooming with other magical girls. Multiple crossovers such as Sailor Moon, Madoka Magica, Utena, Cardcaptor Sakura, Kill la Kill etc.
1. Chapter 1

Rei was impatienly tapping her foot, starting to get irritated. "Luna you said that they would be here around now, what the hell is taking them so long?" she snapped to the cat. "Don't worry Rei-chan, they should come around any minute now." assured Luna. "Well they better get here soon because I refuse to wait around here any moment longer." Rei huffed. Luna only sighed.

"Excuse me?"

That seemed to them shake them out of it. They turned away from each other to come face to face with a girl with blonde wavy shoulder blade length hair and amethyst eyes with a demure look on her face holding a suitcase. "Is this the Hikawa Shrine?"

Both Rei and Luna blinked in confusion and quickly turned to picture Rei had in her pocket that was mostly likely of the girl with the only differences being her lacking the braid holding her hair back and the air of haughtiness around her. They looked back and forth between both the picture and the girl until they were satisfied with what they saw. "Oh you must be Nanami Kiryuu-san, right?"

The girl smiled and nodded, sticking her hand out. "Yes and you must be Hino-san." Rei smiled and nodded back, shaking her hand. "Please just call me Rei." Nanami smiled but then darted her head around the area before leaning in closely to Rei. "… And Sailor Saturn, right?" she whispered only to make Rei sigh in exasperation. "Mars actually." That had made Nanami step back and do double take only to face palm herself. "Damn it so close!"

Rei and Luna only laughed. "It's alright Kiryuu-san," said Luna, "after all taking into consideration of disguise magic it's perfectly fine for you to make any mistakes on a fellow magical girl's identity." Nanami sighed. "Well if you say so. Anyway shouldn't we go inside now?"

"Well you might need to wait a little bit; you see another magical girl also answered Rei-chan's roommate ad." "Really who?" "A girl by the name of Kyoko Sakura." "Oh a Kyo- WHAT!?" Nanami immediately took a few steps back while also dropping her suitcase. "K-K-Kyoko Sakura? Y-y-you mean one of those P-P-Puella Magi involved with the i-i-incident?"

The incident in question that Nanami was talking about was when the Incubators, contractors of the Puella Magi, had decided to perform an experiment using a Puella Magi named Homura Akemi to see what happens when a Soul Gem is cut off from the Law of Cycles and as bait to trap the goddess of the Puella Magi, Madokami. However that had backfired on them when Homura had usurped Madokami's position and recreated the universe as the Devil and unfortunately for her this disturbance was felt by a couple of magical girls leading to investigation of the incident to her eventually being put under house arrest by the Outer senshi. Due to this event all magical girls and familiars (minus the Incubators of course) had decided to create a sort of housing program of magical girls rooming with other magical girls in order to prevent another grand scale incident such as this from ever happening again. As for Kyoko Sakura, she was one of the individuals involved in the matter along with a fellow Puella Magi named Mami Tomoe and former Puella Magi and angels of Madokami, Sayaka Miki and Nagisa Momoe.

"Y-y-you can't trust her! A-a-after all she was a part o-o-of those I-I-Incubators' scheme!" protested Nanami. "Now now Kiryuu-san, that wasn't what had happened," explained Luna,"Sakura-san was just involved in the incident, she didn't do anything to cause it as well as the others involved." "Th-th-that may be true but remember she's a Puella Magi which means she made a wish to become one. Who knows what sort of horrible thing she wished for?"

"Horrible huh? Now I wouldn't call my wish that."

Surprised to hear a new voice, all three of them turned to the direction where it came from only to see a girl with long red hair done up in a ponytail with matching eyes carrying a backpack slung over her shoulder eating a single stick of pocky. "Oh Kyoko you're here, took you long enough." said Rei causing Nanami to screech in terror and scramble to hide behind her peaking over her shoulder. "I-I-It's her!"

"Oh who's this, another magical girl that answered your add?" Asked Kyoko. "What are you a Precure? A Mew? A Sailor Senshi, cause if you are what's your name Sailor Screams-and-acts-like-a-bitch?" That had just angered Nanami. "Hey you listen here you-you-you juvenile delinquent! I am Nanami Kiryuu and you should very damn well know how to talk to a pure magical girl such as myself?"

"Pure, eh? And what just so happens to make you a "pure" magical girl?" "Well for starters I'm not stupid enough to make some deal with some overgrown rat in exchange for some silly miracles!" "Oh really? Well then maybe with such "purity" as yours maybe you are a Precure. What do they call you, Cure Cu-" "ENOUGH!" Rei yelled, startling both girls and Luna enough for her to hop off her shoulder. "If you two are done bickering, I'd like for all of us to head inside the shrine now so shall we?"

Nanami and Kyoko glared at each other and defiantly turned their heads away from the other and followed behind Rei as they climbed up the stairs. Once they made it to the top, they were met with a short old man in Shinto Priest robes sweeping. "Ah Rei-chan I see those lovely girls that answered our ad for shrine maidens have arrived. Nice to meet you two, I'm Rei's grandfather." said Grandpa Hino, reaching out to shake hands with both of them. "Nice to meet you too." agreed Nanami, shaking his hand while also being confused about the shrine maiden part. "Yeah, nice to meet you." said Kyoko, shaking his hand after Nanami had done so. "I gotta say you ladies look just as lovely as your pictures. Rei be a dear and show our new employees to their quarters." "Yes grandpa." With that Rei led both the girls into the shrine.

"Uh Hino- I mean Rei-san, why did your grandfather think we came here to be shrine maidens?" asked Nanami once she was sure that they were out of Grandpa Hino's hearing range. "Isn't it obvious?" Kyouko butted in,"it's because he has no idea that Rei's a magical girl and so she needed a cover up for why we're staying here you idiot." Nanami pouted at her for that."That and you guys are going to be shrine maidens." said Rei surprising both of them. "W-what do you mean we're gonna be shrine maidens!" "I only signed up for this for food, no one sad anything about work!"

"What did you two think you were just going to live here and goof off? Hell no, if you're going to live with me you sure as hell are going to carry your weight, therefore you two are going to be shrine maidens and help around here." Both Nanami and Kyoko sighed in disappointment. "Anyway here's your room." Rei said, sliding the door open to reveal a traditional shinto bedroom.

"Oh it looks lovely, where's the bed?" asked Nanami while also searching inside for it. Her question was answered by Rei promptly pointing at two mats on the floor in the middle of the entire room."WHAAAT!? What the hell is this!? This better be some kind of joke and also why are there two mats in here!?" Nanami demanded endlessly. "Because both of you are rooming together." Rei casually explained making Kyoko and Nanami's jaws drop."WHAT! With her!?" they said in unison."Well this is as much space we have at the shrine for people to sleep in. You should consider yourselves lucky." "LUCKY!?" "Hey if there's only enough space for two of us to sleep in, then how come one of us doesn't share a room with you?" "Are you kidding me? If I room together with either of you I'll never sleep again. By the way you can feel free to unpack now."

With that, Rei left both the girls alone together in the room. They glared at each other and turned away again and headed to their own drawers in the room to unload to their luggage. "Don't even think about stealing any of my things." "Oh like you have anything worth pawning off." "Why you -"

* * *

Meanwhile in another part of Juuban, Mako had just taken a cake out of the oven, baked in honor of her future roommates. She had gotten two of the people involved with the incident, Mami Tomoe and Nagisa Momoe, to come live with her thanks to Artemis, who interestingly enough knew the former from Minako's Sailor V days, and as soon as she heard what a great cook Mami was and how big an appetite Nagisa had she had immediately started planning and preparing a feast for the dinner they would have as roommates. Mako was just so excited about having people to live with, come home to, and cook for.

As soon as she was about to frost the cake, she heard the door bell ring. She gasped in excitement, believing it to be who she thought it would be. Mako rushed out of the kitchen and over to the door and before she could answer it wiped off some cake batter she saw she had gotten on her cheek when she went past a mirror. Finally she answered the door and was absolutely delighted to see she was right. "Hey, come in, come in." Mako greeted while also ushering them in.

Mami smiled. Mako was still as kind and sweet as the first time they had met. "Nice to see you too, Kino-san." "Now, now don't be so formal, I told you you could just call me Mako." "Hi Mako!" said Nagisa, clutching tightly to the straps of her back pack. "And hi to you too Nagisa. You know right now I've just finished baking a cake, wanna help me frost it?" asked Mako making the little girl's eyes light up. Nagisa replied with an eager yes while also even more eagerly nodding her head and ran inside the apartment, dropping her back pack on the floor.

Both older girls giggled at the sight. "She's still energetic as usual, huh?" commented Mako. "Indeed, mind if I help out with the cake?" "Not at all." Mami came inside and picked up Nagisa's back pack, setting both that and her suitcase on one of the couches and went into the kitchen with Mako just in time to see Nagisa oohing and awing at all the food she had cooked. "Wow." She was practically drooling at everything on the counter such as the meatloaf, the chicken, the shrimp, the salad, the pasta, the calzones, the lasagna, the ravioli, the steak, and the mashed potatoes and practically dropped her jaw when she saw the unfrosted cake.

"Glad to see you like it." quipped Mako, gathering aprons from a hook in the kitchen. After handing them to Mami and Nagisa she gotten out three cans of frosting. "So Nagisa which flavor should we use?" Nagisa was salivating while also contemplating which frosting would complement the cake's flavor. Chocolate frosting would be great with chocolate cake but so would vanilla and strawberry as well. "Uh this one. No this one! No wait this one!" She kept randomly pointing at the cans while the two older girls laughed. She soon ended up doing eeny meeny miny moe to select one and ended up choosing vanilla. "Great choice." complimented Mako, getting three frosting knives for each of them. "Ok Mami and I will do the sides and you can do the top. You like that?" Nagisa nodded happily. In the end Nagisa had ended up making a complete mess of the frosting, having gotten more of it on the counter and on herself instead of the cake. Both Mami and Mako giggled at the sight and offered to help the little girl a few times only to have their offers turned down when Nagisa insisted she could do it on her own. Soon enough Nagisa managed to get a decent amount on her part of the cake and was applauded by Mami and Mako for her job well done.

"Great job Nagisa," said Mako, "by the way you also got some frosting here." She grabbed a wash cloth and wiped vanilla frosting off of Nagisa's left cheek. Mami giggled. "You also got some here." She did the same as Mako and wiped off frosting from her other cheek and forehead. They then ended up making Nagisa take a bath to be able to clean out the frosting that had gotten in her hair with Mako insisting on taking care of washing her clothes that had also gotten frosting on them. With Mako pointing to the direction of the bathroom, Nagisa skittered off to there while Mami grabbed a fresh pair of clothes from her backpack. "I hope you don't mind the mess." said Mami, gesturing towards the frosting fiasco left by Nagisa. "Oh it's no problem, besides the kitchen is usually the messiest part of the house." Mako then got out her cleaning supplies while Mami went to help Nagisa with cleaning herself.

Once they were done they returned to to the kitchen part dining room to find it already set for dinner with Mako holding a chair out. "Feel free to dig in." Nagisa had happily climbed into the chair and gathered just about every food item there was onto her plate and immediately started gobbling it all down. Mako and Mami laughed at the sight. "Am I really that good or is this just a normal reaction to any kind of cooking?" jokingly asked Mako. Mami giggled in returned. "Well the only time I've seen her like this is when she's eating my cooking, so I suppose you're that good." With that Mami took a bite of the meatloaf and was delighted with the flavor. "Why Kino-san this is delicious, tell me what's your secret?" Mako smiled, letting the Kino-san slide. "Oh it's just regular meatloaf I made following the recipe exactly. But I'm pretty sure it's nothing compared to your cooking." "Nonsense. I'm pretty sure your culinary skills are superior to mine." "Oh yeah, care to prove it by helping me make tomorrow's dinner?" Mami giggled. "Of course."

Soon they all finished dinner and were about to move onto dessert when Mako brought in the cake they all frosted together. Nagisa was enamored by the sight, and was about to take a piece of the cake only to have her small hand lightly slapped away by Mami who also gave her a little reminder about manners. "Now before we eat this, there's something I want to do first." Mako announced. From behind her she took out an icing bag of chocolate icing causing Nagisa to drool more than before. "Care to take the honors Mami-san?" asked Mako, holding the bag towards Mami. "Indeed." With that Mami took the bag and went around the table to ice something on the cake that made Nagisa stand on her tip toes to see. "Wow that looks really good." Mako commented on the vine like borders with flowers Mami had made on the cake. "Oh I'm sure it's nothing compared to what you can do." "Wanna bet." Mako took back the icing and made frilly borders around Mami's vines. "Hm, that looks really good."

"I wanna see! I wanna see! Let Nagisa see!" demanded Nagisa, jumping and squeezing in between the two older girls making them giggle once more. "Here go ahead." said Mako, putting the bag down, lifting Nagisa up into the chair there and then dropping her on her knees to see the cake. "Wow," she awed, "can Nagisa do it too?" Mako smiled. "Of course," and handed the bag to the small child. Nagisa held the bag's tip in both hands, balancing the rest on her arm, and stared making her creation. When she was done she happily showed it to Mako and Mami. "Wow it looks great," said Mako, who then leaned in to Mami to whisper "what is it?" Nagisa had heard that and happily answered. "It's Nagisa as Bebe!" Both the older girls leaned to see the image more clearly, which to Mami looked exactly like Nagisa's form in Homulily's barrier adorably drawn while to Mako looked like a childish doodle of a clown with pointy teeth. "Oh I see it!" said Mako, clapping her hands together. "Who's Bebe exactly?" she whispered to Mami, while leaning away from Nagisa so she wouldn't hear her again. "I'll explain later." With that Mako cut out a slice of cake for each of them.

Later Mako led each of the girls to their bedrooms. "Nagisa, this right here is your bedroom." With that Mako opened the door to what was formerly a plain guest room and led both girls inside. Once inside they were met with a room that was perfect for the little girl it was intended for. It had honey orange walls with dots painted white, red, and blue in varying sizes, the floor had brown carpeting, the drawers and vanity were painted white, the closet had sliding mirror doors, there's was a small caramel colored table in the center of the room with four pastel colored stools, and a bed that was white with a wooden head board that had orange pillows with yellow and white dots with a matching comforter on it. "I decorated it myself," said Mako while Nagisa wowed at every last detail of the room. "If you don't like it we could change it -" "No it's perfect! Nagisa loves it!" Nagisa claimed. With that she plopped down onto the bed and spread her arms and legs out laughing. Both Mako and Mami smiled. "Remember I'm right next door." reminded Mako closing the door, leaving Nagisa to her own doings.

"Her room really does look lovely," commented Mami, making Mako blush and sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. "Oh it's nothing really besides the rest of the Inners helped me out with the more manual stuff." said Mako, happy to know that Minako and Usagi accidentally spilling paint, them arguing with Rei, her and Ami sighing while setting the floor, and Mamoru messily building the furniture until needing her help had all been worth it. "Oh, and there's something you should know." "Oh, really?" asked Mami, tilting her head. "Yeah, you see my apartment only has two rooms, so you and I pretty much have to bunk together." explained Mako. "If you have a problem with it, I could sleep on the couch -" "Oh no Kino-san that won't be necessary." assured Mami. "Oh that great to know since I already got an extra bed." With that both went down the small hall to what was formerly just Mako's room.

She opened the door and Mami was astonished as the sight of the room. The walls were painted a mint green color, the floor pale grey carpeting, there was a twin bed most likely for her with yellow pillows and blankets that had brown swirly designs on them between two wooden shelf drawers, on the opposite side a bed twice the size of the other one with white and green pillows and a rose patterned comforter in between two nightstands that had a pink lamp on each of them, to the side of that a closet with wooden doors, and in the middle wall there were clear doors in between two wooden regular drawers with the right one having an array of stuff animals on it that led to a balcony. "Why Kino-san it's absolutely lovely." "Thanks, if you want you can take the bigger bed." "Thank you Kino-san, but that won't be necessary."

Mako then pointed out that the drawer and one of the shelf drawers that were on the same side as Mami's bed were empty and that she'd cleared out half her closet for her to put her clothes in as well. She also offered to help Mami unpack her things but was turned down but insisted she do at least one thing to help her on her first day as a roommate making Mami relent and allow her to help. After that they went to help Nagisa unpack her things only to find the girl already asleep and the most unpacking she had done was putting a single sock in a still open drawer. They giggled and unpacked all her things for her and put them all away tidily into her drawers and anything else that couldn't fit into the closet. Once that was done, both girls decided it was late and headed to bed. Mami though took a shower and changed into a silk lavender night gown. She returned to her room to find Mako having just removed her hair bobble that kept her ponytail together, allowing her hair to freely flow down in waves. She also noticed that Mako had changed into a pair of cherry red silk pajamas. They both went to their own beds, climbed under the sheets, Mako turned off both her lamps, allowing the only light to be from the moon outside. "Goodnight Kino-san." "Goodnight Mami-san."

* * *

Ami stared out the taxi window, taking in the sights of Tomaeda. This definitely seemed like a good place for her friend to stay in. Speaking of her friend, Ami turned around only to see the back of her friend's pink head of hair, doing the same thing she was just doing before. "Tenjou-san?" she asked, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. She didn't respond. Ami soon resorted to shaking her shoulder while repeating her name to get her out of it. Soon enough it worked. "Oh, sorry Mizuno-san." she apologized looking at her with wide pale blue eyes that reflected both her sudden surprise and apology while over all being blank.

Ami sighed. About two months ago she was visiting her mother's hospital and one of the nurses had asked her to throw away some trash. She obliged and went outside to the dumpster only to find a girl sitting limply next to it like a doll against a wall for support. Ami in shock had dropped the bag and ran over to the girl. She noticed she was covered in cuts and bruises and her clothes were ripped and torn. When she kneeled down and asked the girl if she was alright, her answer was met with the girl almost mechanically moving her hung head towards her and staring at her. The most distinct thing about the memory to her was how blank her eyes were, like a piece a paper no one had written on, a canvas not yet painted, an absolutely blank slate. She got up quickly and told the girl to stay where she was and went back inside to tell the doctors and nurses about an injured girl outside. There was blur of them rushing outside huddling around the girl, helping her stand, and rushing her indoors. Soon the girl was cleaned and bandaged by the nurses and given the hospital's standard night gown to wear. When asked by a doctor what her name was she blankly stared for a few moments before saying in a shaky yet husky voice: "U-Utena Tenjou."

When asked anymore questions such as old she was, where did she come from, when was her birthday, what school she go to, did she have any relatives and so on, she only responded with a tilt of the head and said "I don't know." To Ami she was like a doll, a doll that had been used and thrown about until it became worn out and broken. After that she had gone over to Hikawa Shrine to meet with her friends and tell them about what had just happened but as soon as she sat down she was interrupted by Luna who claimed to have felt the traces of a energy very similar to their's yet different. She ended up scanning the entire room to find where it was coming from only to find it was coming from Ami, shocking the other girls. Ami then explained how she didn't understand how this was possible until asked if she interacted with anyone new. She told them all about how she was at the hospital and the strange girl she had met, catching Luna's attention when she spoke about her. The cat immediately deduced that the girl was responsible for the energy trace left on Ami and asked her to take her to the hospital tomorrow to meet her which Ami agreed to do.

She had kept Luna hidden in a duffle bag the entire time, waving hello to all the employees there and asked the receptionist where Utena Tenjou was. When answered she went straight to the girls room and properly introduced herself to her, holding out her hand to greet her. When she was met once again with the blank stare coupled with the girl not doing anything at all, she retracted her arm and explained to Utena she had brought someone to meet her. She guessed Utena's interest was piqued from the way she tilted her head towards her. She unzipped her bag and released Luna onto the bed. Luna stared at her, Utena doing the same likewise. Luna soon scanned the girl using a beam from the crescent moon on her forehead, surprisingly not surprising Utena at all. Luna had then come to the conclusion that Utena, like Ami and the sailor senshi, was a magical girl. Ami had agreed that would be enough to explain as to how she was injured like she was. Luna was then about to ask her some questions until told by Ami that Utena was diagnosed with amnesia much to the cat's disappointment.

Luna had then realized that due to Utena being a magical girl while also having amnesia, Utena was at a high risk for danger. They had a meeting with the other Inners discussing how to protect her and decided that one or two of them would visit Utena each day and stand by her side to protect her from any sort of harm until she was released from the hospital. In the meantime Luna was communicating with other magical familiars and magical girls as to who Utena could stay with considering both Rei and Mako were booked for roommates, Ami's, Minako's, and Usagi's families probably wouldn't be too keen on taking a stranger into their homes, and that the Outers already had the Devil to deal with. A ray of hope soon shone when Kero, a familiar of a magical girl named Sakura Kinomoto, had offered to let the girl live with them.

Although it had come to a shock and a bit of a nuisance to Sakura herself that Kero had just volunteered her to take in Utena without asking her first, she nonetheless allowed her to come live with her. She also visited her along with her father and Kero when she was in the hospital. The two of them ended up getting along with each other really well and Sakura was more than happy to have Utena live with her. Now the big day had arrived.

Ami insisted on traveling with Utena to the Kinomotos' residence, having known and worried about the girl the longest. "We're almost there Tenjou-san." said Ami, assuringly. Utena nodded. "Thank you." And with that she returned to looking out the window. Utena enjoyed being around Ami, for some reason she felt familiar to her, almost reminding her of someone, she wasn't sure who exactly but she was happy to at least feel like she was remembering something.

"Ah we're here." announced Ami, pointing out through her window Sakura's home. With that the taxi stopped and both girls got out of the car. Utena went to the trunk to get out her luggage while Ami went to the front to pay the driver and thank him for his job well done. After she'd done so she went to help Utena unload her luggage.

Unbeknownst to both of them they had just captured the attention of a pair of green eyes. "Ami-chan! Utena-chan! Hi!" greeted Sakura from her window, waving wildly. This caught their attention, making Ami wave back happily and Utena wave back blankly. "Oh stay right there, I'm coming out!" Sakura then dashed out of sight from her window making Ami giggle at the scene all while also being reminded of when she first met Usagi. Sakura soon came out of the house along with her father Fujitaka and helped the girls unload the rest of the luggage. Once they done so, Fujitaka told the cab driver he could leave now and did so. He then went to face Utena and Ami. "Hello again girls, care to come in? We're just about to have lunch." Ami nodded and followed Fujitaka and Sakura into their home, Utena trailing lightly behind.

Once they were inside they were promptly sent to the half kitchen and dining room with Sakura and sat down at the table while Fujitaka went and got out the lunch. "I hope you girls enjoy." Fujitaka said, giving each of the girls a plate of spaghetti. "Thank you Professor Kinomoto." thanked Ami who soon enough took a bite. "Wow it's delicious." Utena took a bite as well. "It's good." she said, although in her usual blank voice. Sakura smiled. "Of course it's good, my dad made it. He's really good at cooking."

"Oh my, he might end up giving Mako a run for her cooking." joked Ami, who soon broke into a fit of giggles that Sakura immediately joined in. Utena simply stared at them. "I'm glad you all enjoy it." said Fujitaka, washing left over dishes.

"Not as much as I am that you're all enjoying it without me though."

Surprised at hearing a new voice they all turned towards where it came from only to be faced with Kero hovering in the air, arms crossed and a peeved look on his face. "Ah Kero-chan," started Sakura, surprised at most "I thought you were still sleeping." "Well I was until I was awoken by the delicious smell of spaghetti - That I happen to find all of you eating without me!" "Kero-chan, calm down-" "I will not calm down!" "Kero-chan-" "No I refuse! I can't believe you Sakura-chan, how could you betray me like this?" Kero sobbed into his arm while Ami and Sakura looked on in exasperation and Utena just blankly stared.

"Now, now Kero-chan, there's no need to make a fuss." chided Fujitaka from the kitchen scooping some spaghetti from the pot and putting it out on a plate. "There's plenty of spaghetti to go around." Fujitaka then put the plate right underneath Kero who immediately stopped crying. "Ah thanks Professor Kinomoto." Kero flew down and grabbed a fork and twisted himself up a big pile of spaghetti and ate it all in one gulp. As he was eating his meal Sakura and Ami were laughing together at the sight. Utena though just stared at Kero eating his weight in spaghetti, once again feeling the same sort of déjà vu she got around Ami only now she was being reminded of someone else.

"So Ami-chan are you going to stay a while longer." asked Sakura once their meals were finished. "I wish I could but no. I have to be back in Juuban by tomorrow." explained Ami while helping her pick up the dishes and handing them to Fujitaka. "Aw that's too bad," Kero said leaning against a salt shaker, "Sakura planned on taking Utena around the town and showing her around." Ami smiled. "I'm sure it would've been fun. Excuse me Professor Kinomoto but can I use your phone to call up a cab?" "Not at all." Fujitaka then lead Ami to the lounge while Sakura, Kero, and Utena stayed behind.

"So Utena-chan do you want to go out and see the town?" asked Sakura, Utena nodding yes. Soon both of girls left the house but not before Kero said goodbye to the two. Sakura had gladly shown Utena around from showing her the way to school and the school itself to all of the shops and restaurants around town. The whole time Sakura happily pointed out and explained little things and details about Tomaeda while Utena complacently listened. They soon made their way to King Penguin Park.

"This right here is King Penguin Park." explained Sakura. "The park is known for well the big King Penguin slide of course, but aside from that I had a lot of great times here during my Cardcaptor days." Sakura smiled as she thought fondly of those days from capturing the cards to changing them into her very own Sakura cards. Unfortunately for Sakura however, while she was lost in her memories she ended up bumping into someone and knocking both of them down.

"Ow. Huh? Hoeee!" Sakura immediately got up to help the person she had knocked down get back up. "I-I'm so sorry, so very sorry, p-please forgive me." begged Sakura once she helped the person up and bowed for forgiveness. Utena just stood there the entire time remaining quiet, keeping most of her focus on Sakura. However though when she turned to face the person Sakura had accidentally knocked down her eyes widened in shock. The person Sakura had knocked into was a woman, a woman with greenish blonde hair tied into a bun with green eyes behind wide round glasses wearing a mint green suit with a white blouse and orange scarf. "Oh no it's perfectly alright," said the woman, wearing a smile which to Utena didn't seem genuine at all, "I myself didn't look where I was going, so in any case I should be the one asking you to forgive me." Utena just stared at the woman, feeling the exact sort of déjà vu she got around Ami and Kero only more intense.

"D-Do I know you?" asked Utena, still staring wide eyed at the woman. Sakura stared at Utena in confusion while the woman continued to smile that false smile of her's. "Hm? No I don't believe so, in fact I highly doubt if we ever met before." she replied. "Oh but allow me to introduce myself, I am Reiko Hanato and I am pleased to meet you." she greeted both the girls with a bow. "Nice to meet you too. I'm Sakura Kinomoto and this is my friend Utena Tenjou." "Utena Tenjou?" Reiko said and then stared at Utena, making the girl express even more shock. Reiko's smile widened. She then lifted Utena's chin with only her finger tips and tilted her head to face her. "What a lovely name, Utena." She retracted her fingers, still leaving Utena stunned.

"So are you new to Tomaeda?" asked Sakura, trying to break up the somewhat awkward to her situation that had happened. Reiko nodded. "I am actually. My fiancé and I had recently moved here because I was offered job." "Really?" "Mm hmm. Oh my look at the time, it's getting really late." Reiko said, looking at her pearl wristwatch. "I better be going now, it was nice to meet both of you and I hope we can see each other again." Reiko then walked away, leaving both the girls behind together.

"She is right about it being late. We should probably go home." Utena agreed. She still felt strange about Reiko, and she believed that there was more to her than meets the eye. When they returned home, Fujitaka popped his head out from the kitchen. "Welcome back you two." he greeted. Utena looked around. "Professor Kinomoto, did Mizuno-san leave already?" Utena asked. "Ah yes she did, but before she left she told me to tell you she said goodbye and that she hopes your memories return soon." He then went back into the kitchen only to come back out again. "Oh and Sakura, Toya and Yukito are coming over for dinner." He told her. "Oh ok." "In the meantime while I cook do you think you and Tenjou-san can go upstairs and unpack her things?" Sakura happily nodded. Fujitaka nodded back and finally returned to the kitchen.

Both the girls grabbed Utena's suitcases and headed upstairs. Once up Sakura lead Utena to what used to be Toya's room and started unpacking. "Kinomoto-san-" "Just Sakura will be fine." "Sakura, did you feel anything strange about Hanato-san?" Sakura looked up from the suitcase she was emptying, confusion spread across her features. "Strange? Like what?" she asked, taking into consideration how Reiko had casually held Utena's face despite the latter's shock could classify as such. Utena looked away. "Nothing really. I guess it's not that important at all."

Sakura was saddened by that remark, remembering very much all the times when either Syaoran or Kero had sensed something odd while it hadn't bothered her at all. She then held her head up and placed her hand on Utena's, all with a determined look on her face. "Utena," she started, the determination melting into kindness, "if you ever have a problem, big or small, you can always come to me." Utena was silent, it wasn't that much of a surprise from usual but it was a silence birthed from shock. Once again she was feeling that intense déjà vu she had when with Reiko. She didn't understand exactly why what Sakura had said made her feel that way but it somewhat did.

"Utena-chan? Utena-chan? Are you ok?" asked Sakura, noticing the girl's change in mood. That managed to bring Utena back down. "Oh uh yeah I'm fine and I appreciate your offer." Utena then wondered whether she should tell Sakura about all those feelings she had till now, but decided against it so she wouldn't have to worry so much over her. "Oh that's good. Now hurry up so we can get down to dinner before Kero-chan eats everything." Both of them took out Utena's clothes, all of them kindly donated by Ami and her senshi friends, and placed them in the drawers and hanged them in the closet. As soon as they were done they headed downstairs just at the exact time the doorbell rang.

"Don't worry I got it!" said Sakura, rushing towards the door. When she opened it Toya and Yukito were revealed to be there. "Hello Yukito-san, onii-chan." she greeted them while allowing them both inside. "Hello Sakura-san." "Hey monster." "I told you I'm not a monster!" "Whatever you say monster." "Grr, onii-chan!" Utena stared at the siblings, somewhat feeling a faint pang of jealousy stir within her. She started to wonder if she even had siblings and then went on to wonder if she even had any relatives at all and if she did were they worried about her, wondering where she was, what had happened to her, and if she was ok.

After thoroughly teasing his sister, Toya finally took noticed of the pink haired girl near the stairs. "Oi Sakura, who's this?" Toya asked, also getting Yukito's attention towards the girl. "Oh that's Utena, the girl I've been telling you about." "Oh you mean the one you offered to let stay with you?" "Mm hm." Yukito smiled and went up to Utena reaching his hand out. "Hello I'm Yukito Tsukishiro, nice to meet you Tenjou-san, Sakura's told me all about you." Utena tentatively shook his hand. "Nice to meet you too." "Hey Toya, aren't you going to introduce yourself?" "Alright." Toya went up to Utena after she had finished shaking hands with Yukito. "I'm Toya, nice to meet you." he said gruffly while also trying to shake hands with her. Utena shook his hand and nodded.

Kero then came out from the kitchen telling them all dinner was ready. They all went in and sat down to a plate of curry and rice. "Ah this curry is so good and it's all thanks to me preparing this." Kero claimed during mega spoonfuls of the food. "Kero-chan don't take all the credit, you just helped dad out with cooking." scolded Sakura. "Eh but I did just as much work cooking this stuff as he did, right Professor?" "Indeed you did Kero." The rest of the dinner went along as any old meal in the Kinomoto residence would, with the siblings teasing and arguing with each other, Kero eating his meal all in one bite and asking for seconds, and Fujitaka and guests staring at the scene with heartfelt eyes. Utena stared at the sight, feeling a nice warmth within her, a warmth she believed she could've felt before with someone or some people. For the first time in what must've been a long time, she smiled.

Soon everyone finished their meals and moved onto dessert and finished that as well, Toya and Yukito left to return back home to what used to be only Yukito's house. Later after helping Fujitaka and Sakura clean up, Utena had taken a shower and was now putting on her pjs preparing for bed. Once she'd buttoned the last button there was a knock at the door and she went to open it to reveal Sakura dressed for bed as well. "Oh hello Sakura." started Utena. "Hi Utena," Sakura said, with hands that were behind her back now clasped together in the front, "I just wanted to tell you tomorrow we're going to go buy you a uniform for school." "School?" "Oh yeah. School starts in a couple of days and Luna told me she's estimated you to be around the same age as me so you'll be going to Tomaeda Junior High just like me." "Alright." Utena replied, closing the door only to be stopped by Sakura's foot.

"Also," trailed Sakura, looking at Utena then down to the floor and then back to her again, "I wanted to know if you had a great first day here, so did you?" Utena blinked. She thought about the question while also looking back on her day as well. She decided that apart from meeting Reiko, the day had been perfect. "My first day here was perfect, thank you for asking." she replied smiling. That answer had made Sakura happy.

"I'm happy to hear that. Well good night." "Goodnight." With that Utena closed the door and both girls headed towards their beds. Utena lied on her side, closing her eyes before flipping to the other side asleep. All seemed well for her right now, but unknown to her there were forces against her that at work now.

* * *

Reiko closed the door once she was inside the house. "I see you're back, how was your day?" asked a masculine voice coming from an armchair. From the exact same chair came three small daggers, two that were promptly thrown at a picture in front of the chair that was torn beyond recognition by other daggers still embedded in it and one that was thrown at Reiko only to be captured between two fingers. She smiled, only this smile however was different from the one she had earlier. Instead of being only a mere fake it was a true wicked one spread upon her features. "It was lovely," she said, walking over to sit on one of the chair's armrests, "I met her today." She threw her dagger at the picture as soon as she said that.

"Oh really?" the man asked quizzically, turning his attention towards her. Reiko nodded. "He was right, her memories are completely gone although she did somewhat recognize me." The man remained silent, throwing another dagger at the picture. "Oh don't worry she's not onto me though, in fact I think she's become more stupider than she was at school." she quipped while also throwing a dagger.

A ringing noise sounded out. It came from the phone on the side table near the chair. Reiko got it while her partner got up. "Hello." she answered, in voice that was sweet yet toxic. "So have you found her?" asked the voice on the line, the man plucking the daggers out of the wall and the picture. Reiko's smile widened. "I'll take that as a yes." She giggled, the man now throwing the picture away in a small rose crest patterned trash can, filled to brim with other pictures torn apart by daggers as well.

"And I'll take it she's no longer has her memories, like I said before?" "Mm hm." "Lovely to hear. And do you both have _them_ with you?" The man grabbed a new photo from a box full of them, smoothed it down against the wall, then taped it. "Of course we do." She could practically hear the engine on the other side revving up. "Good. Remember, take her, along with anyone else who gets in our way, out. A stupid girl like her doesn't deserve the power to revolutionize the world." With that he hanged up and Reiko put the phone down, just in time for the man gave to give her a dagger. "I couldn't agree more." she said, taking the dagger and throwing it right in the middle of the person in the photograph's forehead; Utena Tenjou.


	2. Chapter 2

Anthy looked up at the building and then at the piece of paper in her hand. This was the place, although it was a bit bigger than she imagined it would be. In front of her stood a big white mansion behind a wrought iron gate that was surprisingly only a mere two stories tall and not all like the "small" size it was said to be in the advertisement. Anthy smiled, perhaps he future house mates didn't have a concept of size at all. "Well Chuchu," she said to the small monkey currently munching away on a breadstick, "let's go in." With that she walked up to the gates, suitcase in hand, and pressed the button to the intercom.

"Hello? Who is this?" Asked a voice coming from it, most likely belonging to a elderly male. "This is Anthy Himemiya, the one who answered the ad." There was silence. Suddenly the gates in front of her separated, allowing an entry way for her. "Please do come in." Said the voice. Anthy happily obliged, taking a step from the street into the white brick setting of the mansion. She walked around the fountain in the middle of it to get to the door and knocked. The doors opened to reveal an elderly old man with kind eyes in a three piece suit. A butler, she guessed.

"Welcome, Lady Himemiya," he greeted while also bowing down, "Lady Satsuki will be happy to see you've arrived." Anthy smiled. "I'm sure I'll be happy to see her too." The butler smiled then bowed down again. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Mitsuzo Soroi, the butler, and it is an honor to meet you." He then allowed Anthy to enter the mansion while insisting he take her bag which she obliged to. "So where is Kiryuin-san?"

Anthy's question was answered by a sliver of light, which then doubled, tripled, and multiplied into a large ray of light. Chuchu squealed at the brightness before putting on a pair of sunglasses while Anthy shielded her eyes, making out a silhouette in the middle of the light. The center of it soon dimmed to reveal a girl with black bobbed hair and thick eyebrows, looking down at her from the second floor in the middle of where the stairs split in the foyer. "WELCOME ANTHY HIMEMIYA," the girl greeted in a loud, booming voice, "I AM SATSUKI KIRYUIN AND I WELCOME YOU TO MY HUMBLE ABODE AND HOPE THAT ENJOY YOUR TIME HERE!" The light soon dimmed out all together and Anthy could see again.

"Nice to meet you too, Kiryuin-san." Anthy said, watching her descend down the stairs. "You know your home is a lot bigger than I expected." "My apologies, at the time I was comparing it to my former house." Anthy smiled. "It's no problem." She then looked around. "By the way your ad had told me there were approximately about nine occupants already living in here." Satsuki nodded. "Yes that includes myself and Soroi. Allow me to introduce you to the others." She turned to Soroi. "Soroi, please do take Himemiya-san's luggage to her room." "Yes my lady."

Both Anthy and Satsuki turned to the left while Soroi went upstairs with Anthy's luggage. Going down a powder blue hallway, Anthy stared at framed photographs that consisted of Satsuki with others, Satsuki alone, other people without Satsuki, and single portraits of them as well. They finally made it to what Anthy presumed was a dining room. In there were some of the people in the photographs such as the little boy in sunglasses who was currently swinging on the chandelier, the fat man in regular glasses with the woman that she presumed was his wife talking to each other while he was reading a newspaper and she was stirring something in a bowl, the girl with a red streak in her hair who was lying back in a chair with her feet on the table yawning, and the hoodie wearing pug that was currently licking his plate clean from whatever food he was served. All that was missing was-

"SATSUKIIII!" From out of nowhere flew down the bowl haired girl from the pictures, who currently looked like she was about to hit Anthy and Satsuki. Anthy naturally ducked only to realize the action was unnecessary when Satsuki caught her right in her hands while spinning her around and sat her down. "Hello Mankanshoku." Said Satsuki. "Eh? But Satsuki-chan I told you that since we're all living together you can just call me Mako." Whined the girl named as such. Satsuki sighed. "Alright Mako-" "Yay!" With that Mako gave Satsuki a squeeze while also cuddling her face against her. Anthy counted a total of eight people meaning that someone else was missing."Lady Satsuki." Said a new voice. Anthy turned towards where it came from only to be surprised to a see a girl with dark skin and lavender dreadlocks that was at least an inch past her elbow tall between her and Satsuki when she was absolutely sure there was no one there before. "I believe everyone, including myself, must introduce ourselves to Himemiya-san here." "I couldn't agree more." With that Satsuki took one step forward and a loud clack resounded around room from only her heel grabbing everyone's attention.

"ATTENTION FELLOW HOUSEMATES! OUR NEWEST MEMBER TO OUR HOUSEHOLD HAS ARRIVED! IT WOULD DO YOU ALL WELL TO HAVE THE DECENCY TO INTRODUCE YOURSELVES TO HER!" As soon as she said that everyone lined up in a row with a military like flair and promptly introduced themselves. "I AM BARAZO MANKASHOKU, HUSBAND, FATHER,FORMER DOCTOR, AND FELLOW HOUSEMATE!" "I AM SUKUYO MANKANSHOKU, WIFE, MOTHER, HOMEMAKER, AND FELLOW HOUSEMATE!" "I AM MATARO MANKANSHOKU, SON, BROTHER, EX-DELINQUENT, AND FELLOW HOUSEMATE!" "GUTS!" "I AM MAKO MANKANSHOKU, DAUGHTER, SISTER, POSSIBLE FUTURE IN LAW, AND FELLOW HOUSEMATE!" "I AM RYUKO MATOI, SISTER TO SATSUKI, LOVER OF MAKO, AND FELLOW HOUSEMATE!" "I AM REI HOOMARU, ASSISTANT AND FELLOW HOUSEMATE!" They all bowed down to her in sync. "IT'S A PLEASURE TO MEET AND SOON BE LIVING WITH YOU!" Anthy merely stared at them and then smiled. "I am Anthy Himemiya and its a pleasure to meet and soon be living with all of you as well."

"Very well, now that you've all introduced yourselves I can now attend to my business. Rei come along." Satsuki and Rei left the room, leaving only Anthy and the Mankanshokus and Ryuko alone. "So so lady, how did you get to live here?" Asked Mataro, nudging Anthy. "Now Mataro if she's going to tell us we can at least give her the opportunity to relax and eat. Come along now sweetie." Scolded Sukuyo while pushing Anthy to a seat at the table. Once she had sat her down she placed a mountain sized plate of croquettes right in front of Anthy whose eyes widened at the size. "Now go ahead and feel free to take a bite and we'll tell you all about ourselves Himemiya-san." "Yeah mom's croquettes are the best thing to enter anyone's mouth!" Anthy blinked and grabbed one of them, sniffing for good measure, took one bite and to her surprised ended up quite enjoying it. Chuchu saw this and took a croquette too and ended up being enthralled its flavor as well and soon enough started eating one entire croquette at a time.

The Mankanshokus talked about themselves very easily to her about many things such as how over half a year ago Satsuki invited them all to live with her, Barazo retiring from his profession since Satsuki insisted that she could provide for all of them and so that no one else would accidentally lose their life at his hands, Sukuyo's recipe for making croquettes, Mataro's get rich quick schemes, Mako talking about how wonderful her mother's cooking was, and Guts, uh, well him and Chuchu did seem to have an excellent conversation going on with eachother. The only person that didn't open up to her that easily was Ryuko. It wasn't out of hatred or malice though, it was just that the Mankanshoukus were very big talkers, so the most communication between them were mutual smiles relating to how exuberant the family was.

Luckily for them Soroi came down and told Anthy that he had finished putting her luggage away in her room and was going to lead her there until Ryuko insisted she take her there herself. She was met with kindhearted goodbyes and promises to reunite at dinner by the family who then promptly started to finish her leftover mountain of croquettes, which was now only half its size thanks to Chuchu. Now walking up the stairs she heard stifled giggles coming from Ryuko which then bursted into full blown laughter. "Ha ha, sorry about that, they just really enjoy new company." Explained Ryuko. "It's alright. In fact they're pretty nice people." Anthy reassured her, since the family reminded her of Utena's old energetic friend Wakaba.

Ryuko smiled but soon lost it when she took notice of Chuchu, who was now nibbling on a croquette he had saved for himself. "So uh is that like your magical animal mascot familiar or whatever?" "This is Chuchu." "Oh uh ok but is he like that for you?" Anthy turned towards Chuchu who also did same thing to her while still eating his croquette. She turned away and smiled. "I suppose so." She answered with a shrug. "So Matoi-san, shouldn't you tell me about yourself as well, or was that a Mankanshoku only deal?" "Oh yeah sure, just ask me anything you want to know about me." "Well I am curious as to how you and Satsuki have different surnames despite being sisters. Can you tell me about that?" That question made Ryuko stop walking and stand in place.

"Oh that well it's a long story." Anthy took notice of her change in demeanor. She only asked because the only instance of siblings having different surnames that she knew of was her and well her brother and since Ryuko was dating Mako and Satsuki didn't seem at all like the type of woman who would give up her name if she was going to get married it had peaked her curiosity. "It's ok, you don't have to tell me if it makes you uncomfortable." "Alright. Well anyway here's your room."

After climbing up the stairs and going through the halls they finally made it to what would now be Anthy's room. Ryuko opened the door and led Anthy inside. She saw that her suitcase was next to it and that it hadn't been unpacked yet. "So do you need any help unpacking?" Asked Ryuko as Anthy stepped inside. "Oh no I'll be fine I can do it myself." "Oh well uh ok. Just know that me and Satsuki are down the halls on either side. Oh and I'll tell Soroi to come and get you for dinner." Ryuko then finally left Anthy all alone in her new residence.

Anthy looked around; the walls were painted a pale pink color, the floor was pearly white tiles, there was a closet and a door next to it that Anthy presumed lead to a bathroom, brown drawers, a dresser, a desk, and it had a canopy bed with transparent purple drapes and lavender sheets. She sighed to herself and started taking her things out of her suitcase. She placed her clothes in the dresser and closet and after that made a bed for Chuchu using the top drawer on the right side of her bed and some linens from her closet. Chuchu immediately put his new bed to good use and was snoring away underneath his sleeping mask. Anthy smiled at the sight. Now there was only one thing left for her to do; she sat down on her bed, reached into the inner pockets of her suitcase, grabbed a picture frame, and placed it on the drawer. In the frame was the photo of her and Utena side by side with Akio cropped out. Solemnly she touched the part with Utena with her fingertips.

"Don't worry Utena," she whispered to herself, "I'm almost close to you. Just a little while longer." She sadly took her fingers back and reached down into her suitcase to grab her sketch book and pencils. Since leaving her brother Anthy was free to do whatever she wanted and recently she was taking an interest in art. She looked at the clock on her drawer and decided she had enough time to herself till dinner. She got up and went directly towards the desk, sat down and opened up to a blank page in her sketch book and the ideas immediately flowed from her pencil.

* * *

"Nanami, wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" Said Rei, getting more and more frustrated and louder upon shaking the girl. "Nanami! Nanami! NANAMI!" That last one seemed to do it, what with Nanami screaming in surprise and rolling over from her side to her face. "Uh what is it?" Groggily asked Kyouko from her mat which was now moved away from Nanami's at at least 7 and half feet. "It's nothing Kyouko it's just that Nanami here was just having a "little" trouble waking up." "Hey!" "Shut up, besides today's the first day of school and you need to get ready about now." Nanami blinked in confusion but then saw that Rei was already dressed for school. "Eh?! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?!" Nanami demanded as she scrambled up from her mat hurrying over to her wardrobe and throwing anything out of it that wasn't her school uniform. "I did but you just said "oh 5 more minutes please."" "That's no excuse! You know very well I can't be late on my very first day at a new school!"

Kyouko hoping to escape their argument put her pillow right on her head to negate any noise from them and tried to go back to sleep. "Ugh can you guys just shut up and leave already!?" Having almost found her uniform, Nanami had a sudden realization. "Hey wait a minute! How come you're not telling her to get up either!?" Nanami ordered pointing at Kyouko. "That's because Kyouko isn't going to school,"explained Rei while Kyouko rolled over to face her and lifted her pillow up to reveal her snide little grin, "she didn't fit T.A's regiment and I'm just terrified of what she would do at Juuban. No offense." "None taken." Nanami pouted nonetheless. "That's not fair at all!" "I don't care just get dressed or I'll leave without you."

Rei then left the girls' room and slid the door close while Nanami had finally found her T.A school uniform. She grabbed her shoes and would've left sooner if she hadn't seen her reflection in the mirror. What she saw was of course herself, but she also saw that she looked somewhat drab. She tugged at one of her blonde locks and sighed. After leaving Ohtori, she had ditched the braid holding back her hair as a way to let go of her old pitiable self, and while it did help in that she couldn't help but feel a bit plain. Normally she would of done something to her hair to at least make it look more appealing but at the moment she was a bit short on time.

Nanami immediately hurried out of her room all while putting her shoes on and grabbing her bag and met Rei at the shrine's entrance. Rei turned her eyes down to see her roommate huffing and out of air. "Took you long enough," Rei quipped, "did you manage to eat something before you left?" Rei's question was met by Nanami's stomach growling, causing said girl to blush upon doing so. Rei sighed and reached into her school bag to grab a sandwich in plastic bag that she made in case of this happening. "Here eat this." She said handing it to Nanami.

Nanami stared at it and cautiously took the bag, opened it, and stared at it's contents. "It's not poisoned by the way," assured Rei bluntly, "so you can eat it." Nanami blushed angrily at Rei for assuming so. "Of course I know that!" She snapped, taking the sandwich out of the bag and immediately eating it. The sandwich had ham and cheese, somewhat suitable as a breakfast. Both girls then ascended down the shrine's steps and then walked towards T.A, Nanami all the while angrily eating her sandwich.

They then arrived at the school just as immediately as Nanami had finished her sandwich. After spitefully finishing her sandwich, Nanami took notice of how big the school was along with it's students, faculty, and nuns. While doing so, Nanami ended up bumping into someone. "Nanami, watch where you're going!" scolded Rei. "Oh I'm sorry, please forgive me." apologized Nanami, bowing her head and closing her eyes. She opened up at least one of them to see who she bumped into and was shocked to see that it was a surprisingly beautiful nun, a nun with long eyelashes and eyes in the most loveliest shade of gray hidden behind round spectacles, full lips, with a mole beneath them on the left, and a body that appeared so -

Nanami stopped her thoughts and looked away from the nun, now profusely blushing. Normally she wouldn't be thinking about such things of a woman, a nun especially, but since leaving Ohtori she found herself thinking thoughts like these whenever she would come around a woman and would always have no clue on how to deal with them. She felt Rei place a hand on her shoulder. "Sister please forgive my friend here, you see its her first day at school here and she just has her head in the clouds a lot." She heard Rei explain, a bit bitter about the head in the clouds part. Nanami turned to the nun, although not too much so she wouldn't return to her thoughts from before and was surprised to see the nun smile.

"What a coincidence, I'm new here as well." the nun said. "As for your friend I suppose I'll forgive her. Now if you two will excuse me I have business with the Lord to attend to." With that she went off away from the girls. "She was really nice." Commented Nanami, watching her walk away." "Which is really surprising considering she's a school nun." Soon the school's bells rang, alerting both girls to their duties. "Oh I better get to class now -" "Wait what about me!?" "There are boards with a list of students' names and class rooms that they're assigned to inside, just use that!"

Nanami took Rei's advice and headed inside. This was all so new to her; back at Ohtori they would just send letters to them detailing what classes they were attending along with what building they were in. Soon Nanami was deep inside the school and sure enough there were boards with names on them and about hundreds of girls huddled around them. "Excuse me? Ah pardon me." Said Nanami trying to make her way through the ladies. When that didn't work, she ended up on the floor crawling her way through a sea of legs to be able to get to a board. Soon enough she finally got near the boards and got up to search for her name and class. Luckily for Nanami, the first board in front of her had her name along with what classroom she was supposed to go to. She then crawled her way out of the horde and headed straight to her class.

Once there, she saw that the teacher hadn't arrived yet and so sat down one row away from the front. She looked around. The girls in class were conversing with each other over little things such as what they did over the summer, love interests, clothes, and so on. Nanami felt a pang of loneliness watching over all of it; she herself had never exactly known true friendship what with Keiko, Aiko, and Yuuko only kissing up to her to get close to her brother, Tsuwabuki feeling more like a little brother to her, Arisugawa and Miki being only fellow student council members, and Tenjou and Himemiya - well they didn't exactly fit into that category.

She then heard a clapping noise and saw that everyone stopped talking and turned their heads to the front, she did the same likewise. In front of her was a stylishly dressed woman with long white hair, gray eyes, red glasses perched upon her head, and make up done in a fashion that she was surprised a Catholic school would allow. She guessed that this was their teacher while the woman went up to the chalkboard. "Attention class," she spoke while still receiving their attention, "I will be your new history teacher for the year so allow me to introduce myself." She grabbed a stick of chalk and started to write on the board. "I am Ms. Romee," she started, while also writing that down in English, "but I suppose you can all call me Romee-sensei or just sensei." writing her name in katakana as well.

"Um Romee-sensei," said a student in the back, hand raised, " what happened to Suzuki-sensei." Romee put the chalk down when she asked that. "Ah her, well you see your old teacher is on maternity leave and until she returns I'll be teaching all of you. Now grab your text books and turn to the page on the board."

* * *

The rest of the school day just flew by for Nanami. One thing that was remotely interesting about it though was when she had forgotten her lunch only to have been saved by Rei who had made her one just in case and after she had done so ended up getting swarmed by her fan girls. She fondly remembered how they all asked how she had gotten their idol to make her a lunch and her responding with that they lived together causing them to squeal in delight. They soon asked her every little detail about Rei such as her favorite meal, favorite color, hobbies, things she enjoyed in her free time, what position she usually slept in and so on. And while she could only vaguely answer a few questions they all enjoyed whatever answers they could get. Enjoying being the center of attention once again, Nanami made mental note to gather a couple of tidbits on Rei to answer them tomorrow. At the moment though she and Rei were on their way to Fruits Parlor Crown, a cafe where Rei and her friends usually hanged out.

"Rei-chan, over here!" Was the first thing Nanami heard as soon as they entered the place. Once inside, she saw that it had came from a girl that had her hair in two buns that was standing up at a booth with five other girls waving at them. "Hey guys, how was your day?" Rei asked while walking up to them. "By the way Luna told you about Nanami right?" Nanami timidly waved at them. "Hello." The girls in turn waved back.

"Allow me to introduce my friends, this is Makoto Kino," Rei said, referring to the girl with brown hair done in a pony tail that was sitting next to a girl with blonde hair in twin tail ringlets, "Ami Mizuno," a girl with short blue hair, "Usagi Tsukino," bun haired girl, "and Minako Aino." When Nanami turned to face the last girl, it felt like time itself had stopped. Her eyes widened at the sight of the very sight of her; her hair was so shiny it was as if gold had been woven into those tresses and she was oh so thankful that most of it was held back by that pretty red bow that she wore so that she could be able to see how gorgeous her face was and how her eyes were so crystalline and blue.

It hadn't occurred to Nanami how long she had been staring until she felt Rei shaking her shoulder. "Oi Nanami, are you gonna sit down?" After being shaken out of her stupor she blushed out of embarrassment and sat down at the booth - right next to Minako, which made her blush even more. Rei and her friends were chatting all the while unaware of Nanami stealing looks of Minako which was quite surprising considering how much pinker her face became every time she took a peek of her. Minako was all she was focused on the entire time she was at the cafe that she was even unaware that the drill haired girl was Mami Tomoe from the incident. However she was taken out of her daze when asked a question from Usagi.

"Huh?" "I said do you know which senshi each of use are?" Nanami blinked until understanding what she meant. "Oh right, well Rei-san is Mars." She answered, Rei nodding in approval. "And uh Aino-san-" "You can call me Minako." "Oh uh Minako-san is uh, uh," she kept stuttering, trying to figure out which sailor senshi Minako possibly was. She turned towards her, once again entranced by her beauty, and the answer was simple enough. "Sailor Venus." was her answer, she knew it just had to be considering how beautiful she was. "That's right!" Minako replied, causing an absolute wave of relief upon Nanami who's only problem now was correctly guessing the other girls' identities.

She guessed Tsukino was Pluto, Mizuno and Kino were Neptune and Uranus, and that the drill haired girl was Sailor Moon. She was corrected by them to learn that Tsukino herself was actually Sailor Moon, Mizuno was Mercury, Kino Jupiter, and Drills herself wasn't a senshi at all but a Puella Magi, frightening Nanami a bit inside. All of them continued talking about random subjects such as Tomoe's first day at Juuban High, the well-being of some girl Mizuno knew, and Tsukino rambling on about how her boyfriend had gotten her this gorgeous new bracelet while Nanami paid no heed to any of it, only content to stare at Minako.

Soon enough they all had to go home and work on homework from school and study. They left the cafe and all headed their separate ways. Walking alongside Rei to head home to shrine, Nanami had asked "Hey Rei-san, is Minako-san seeing anyone?" Rei turned to her with raised eyebrows. "No, not really," answer, somehow making Nanami sigh with relief, "why do you want to know?" "Oh no reason."


	3. Chapter 3

She couldn't believe the situation she was in; her the Devil, Satan, Lucifer herself, the new goddess of the universe captured by mere mortals. She banged her fists against the deep red energy sphere once more. "Let me out!" she yelled. "I am the creator of this world! Let me out or else I will -" **CLONK! **Homucifer soon lost that train of thought when Pluto bonked her on the head with her Garnet Rod. "Ah, put a sock in it." the time guardian spat, turning to her cohorts. "Pluto shouldn't you be more gentle with her?" asked Neptune, eyeing up the the asteroid sized welt the rod left on the conked out demon's head. "Gentle!? Are you kidding me!? Do you have any idea how much this little runt here has dicked around with time!? She deserves a hit with the rod!" "We know," replied Uranus, arms crossed and an amused look upon her face, "you said that when we first captured her and you hit her on the head the very first time."

Unfortunately for Homura, both before and after her ascension, she wasn't aware that there were magical girls _besides_ Puella and that had led her to defeat by them as well. Now she was trapped in the Corridor of Space-Time, imprisoned in Pluto's Garnet Ball, being watched over by the outer sailor senshi. She had attempted to use her powers to destroy the universe once she had awakened from being hit by Pluto's rod the first time, only to learn that they didn't work since she was currently outside the universe. Knowing that she was unconscious at the moment, the three outers left the Corridor through the Door thanks to Pluto and returned to their living room detransformed and to find little Hotaru asleep on the couch.

"Aw, she was waiting up for us," Michiru cooed, picking the small child up in her arms while Haruka and Setsuna awwed as well. After putting Hotaru to bed the three of them gathered in the living room to talk about their new "charge". "So are we just gonna keep watching her forever?" Haruka asked. Setsuna sighed. "I don't think so exactly. If we want we could just roll the Garnet Ball deep in there and she could be lost forever." "Oh now Setsuna that's too cruel, even for your standards." chided Michiru. "What it's a good idea, sides Madokami could reawaken any time now." Although not absolutely certain Setsuna was somehow right. Without Homucifer keeping her down the Puellas' Goddess could reawaken and take control once again, however there were a couple of uncertainties. What if Madokami returned the Puella's to her system of them disappearing from their grief to her valhalla in which they would still suffer, or what if Madokami would take non Puella magical girls into her system, or perhaps she was absolutely angry at Homucifer for usurping her and would tear apart galaxies to find her and when she did would create a great war between the two both destroying them and the universe.

Pondering those uncertainties, all three of them sighed in unison. Only time may tell what will happen.

* * *

_Clanking._

_The sound of metal against metal hitting each other._

_The smell of perspiration, desperation, and temptation filled the air._

_There was a sweet scent in there as well, something flowery that somehow brought tears to her eyes._

_Everything was a blur. A green blur, a blue blur, an orange blur, a yellow blur, a red blur and the green blur again. One blur that was constant was a purple blur constantly watching the blurs fight._

_There was something soothing about that blur in particular, knowing that it was there._

_Soon the clanking became more frantic, feverish even, radically hysterical as if fighting for their lives. Faced with an all white blur the clanking was going faster and faster until it stopped._

_It stopped because of pain, pain from behind her, pain that came from the soothing blur who picked up something and gave it to the white blur._

_She heard music, music from a carousel. _

_She saw her favorite blur go towards the evil white one and tried to stop it but to no avail._

_The metallic stench was strong._

_Purple was suffering._

_She felt pain repeatedly._

_There was another white blur trying to soothe her but she wouldn't allow it._

_She pushed the other offensive white blur away and made her way to something._

_She said words she couldn't understand, kept saying them over and over._

_Until there was a light splash against her fingers._

_A light splash that opened up something for her._

_Something that revealed purple._

_She was begging purple to do something._

_She held her hand out to the blur and -_

_It fell._

_It fell away to a better place, a place far far away from her and those awful white blurs._

_She was tired and in pain. _

_She'd believe it would all be over._

_Believed until she turned over and -_

* * *

"OI UTENA WAKE UP!" Kero yelled at the top of his lungs, but to no avail did he wake up the pink haired girl. "That's it! You're asking for it!" With that he flew up half a foot from the ceiling and immediately yelled and charged down fist first towards her solar plexus, forcing the girl to wake up in the most unpleasant of ways. Picking the small creature up by the scruff of his neck, Utena lifted him towards her face. "Kero what was that for?" Utena groggily demanded. "Hey I was only trying to wake you up. For crying out loud this is actually the first time Sakura's ever willingly gotten up before someone!" "And just why would I need be up so early?" "Because there's school today." Utena blinked at that. "School?" The realization soon hit her afterwards. "Oh no!"

Scrambling out of bed, Utena accidentally flung Kero towards a wall in which he slid down against until landing on her desk. "Hey what was that for?!" He demanded, only to have Utena's pajama shirt thrown upon him. "Oh sorry about that Kero," Utena apologized, while frantically searching for her school uniform in the wardrobe, "I'm just really in a hurry." "That's still no excuse to throw me around like a rag doll!" Kero retorted once he made his way out of the pajama shirt only to have Utena indirectly fling her pajama pants at him. "Sorry." "Hey you did it again!"

Kero's anger however was short lived, for when he lifted up a pajama leg to free himself, he was left awestruck by Utena's appearance in her uniform. Utena was smoothing down her tie, a disoriented expression upon her face until she turned towards Kero. "Wow you really look good in that" the plush toy look alike commented. "Really? I think I look kinda weird." Utena admitted, turning away. "Weird, huh? What about it makes you look weird?" "Oh I don't know." "Ah come on you can tell me." "Well ok. You see I kinda feel like this looks wrong." "Wrong? Like how wrong we talkin here?" "Well wrong in a way that you usually don't do, like say you usually bring a case full of pencils to school, right?" "Right." "So you usually do that all the time until one day you bring case full of pens instead. It's not something you usually do and didn't make a choice to do it but it happened and you feel weird about it. That sounds dumb doesn't it?" "No, no not all. If that's the way you feel about it then it's ok to express how you feel about it." "Really?" "Yeah!"

Utena turned around to face the mirror. Most people would say she looked pretty good in her uniform, but to Utena herself she looked kinda weird. It soon hit Utena that she had to head downstairs immediately in order to have breakfast before leaving to school. With Kero right behind her, she hurried out of her room down the stairs into the dining room to see Sakura and Fujitaka already eating with two plates set for the both of them. "Oh Utena you're awake." Sakura said, while helping herself to another bite of steamed rice. "Yeah sorry about that," Utena apologized, sitting down and helping herself to some miso soup, "I sorta forgot we had school today. Luckily for me Kero came and woke me up." "It's no problem." Kero responded, putting an entire piece of tamagoyaki into his mouth after saying so. Fujitaka smiled at the sight.

"Sakura, you're gonna help Tenjou-san around in school right?" Fujitaka asked, turning towards his daughter who was mid tamagoyaki. "Of course." Sakura replied, excitedly nodding her head. Utena stopped mid bite of her steamed rice to watch Sakura and her father smiling at each other, once again feeling a vague pang of envy. After a couple of minutes of eating in peace, Sakura gasped in horror as she caught glimpse of her watch to see that she and Utena would almost be late to school. She quickly downed her entire breakfast and ran from the table while grabbing Utena's arm just as she was about to have another piece of tamagoyaki and taking Utena along with her.

Fortunately for Utena, Sakura stopped and kneeled down at the step before the door to put on their roller skates. About two days ago Sakura had taught Utena how to roller skate, as it was her main way of getting to school. It was difficult at first, what with Utena constantly falling down and occasionally bringing Sakura down with her, but soon enough she managed to get it down in time for school. After strapping on their elbow and knee pads they were about to head outside until they were stopped by Fujitaka, who gave them their lunches they had momentarily forgotten about. Once receiving their lunches, both girls headed outside and skated towards school. Utena wobbled occasionally, but luckily was caught by Sakura each and every time.

After some twists and turns, they finally made it to Tomaeda Middle School. While skating their way towards the building, Sakura returned hellos and waves with anyone that did the same to her. Finally they made it inside the school. Once in, they removed their roller skates and stored them away in their lockers, all while toeing on their uwabaki. After accomplishing that Sakura led Utena to their classroom for according to the letter with Utena's classes on it she was in all the classes Sakura had.

"I really can't wait for you to meet my friends Utena-chan," Sakura said, still walking next to her, "I think you all would really get along - oof!" Once more Sakura had bumped into someone, at least this time both parties weren't knocked down. "Ah I'm sorry," apologized Sakura, bowing down. Once she looked up though she was absolutely surprised to see who it was.

"Hanato!" Indeed it was Reiko Hanato, the woman the girls had met at Penguin Park days ago. She stared at the girls, still smiling the same weird smile she had before. "Why hello again girls," she greeted, "what a coincidence to run into the two of you here." Once again Utena was overcome with a rush of deja vu and uneasiness. She didn't understand why Reiko made her feel this way. "Hanato-san what are you doing here?" Sakura questioned. Reiko's smile widened. "Do you remember how I told you that my fiance and I moved here because of a job offer?" She asked, Sakura nodding in return. "Well you're looking at it. I got a job at Tomaeda Middle School as a guidance counselor."

"Really? That sounds amazing." exclaimed Sakura. "Mm hmm. You know right now I was going to go get some water for a flower my fiance gave me, would you mind taking me to the nearest drinking fountain." Reiko requested, holding up a red vase with a thin pink line just below the lip that somehow wasn't destroyed in the collision with Sakura.

"Oh well I guess we -" "Actually me and Sakura really need to get to class right now." butted in Utena. "After all we wouldn't want to be a late on the first day of school, besides I think a saw a fountain just down the hall." Utena babbled all while steering Sakura away from Reiko. "Oh well that's understandable." Reiko said while still in hearing range to them. Once she was out of their sight though, her smile melted away into a grimace.

Once more Utena had gotten in her way, she thought while she walked down the hall and found that there absolutely was a drinking fountain. As the water was flowing into the vase, Reiko thought even more about Utena, such as how annoying and stupid she was, what complete idiot she has become now, and mostly about how she had ruined her life, completely unaware that the water was overflowing the vase. Once she had though she immediately took her hand off the panel button and went straight towards her new office. Her thoughts were still on Utena, her fiance's exact words about how she and his sister made him slowly poison her and her father still ringing in her head.

_"I swear I never wanted to harm you, they just made me do it."_

Once inside her office, she placed her vase on the desk. Her grimace soon turned into a vicious smile. _Soon I'll get you back Tenjou-san_, she thought as she placed a single black rose in the vase.

* * *

Utena was still guiding Sakura down the hall, trying to get as far away from Reiko as possible. Sakura remained silent from surprise the whole time until she finally decided to say something. "Um Utena," she started, "where are we going?" "To class of course." "Then how come we just passed it seven classes ago?"

That made Utena stop in her tracks and caused her to blush out of embarrassment and look down at the floor. In her rush to flee from Reiko she forgotten that it was Sakura who knew where the class was, not her. Sakura gazed at her friend with worry. "Utena, do you not like Hanato-san?" Utena looked up to stare at Sakura. "I don't think so." "Then how come you got us away from her so fast?"

Utena turned away from Sakura from awkwardness. "Its ok Utena, you can tell me." assured Sakura. Utena turned to her again, feeling both touched and a vague pang of guilt. "Well she kinda makes me feel weird." "Weird? How?" "Well I can't help but get the feeling I've seen her somewhere but she said that she never met me before and yet I still feel so uncomfortable around her." "So you don't want to be around her?" "Well that kinda feels like the best option I have, so yeah."

Sakura smiled, placing her hand on Utena's shoulder. "If that's how you feel about it, then the next time we see Hanato-san you can feel free to go somewhere else while we're together and I'll go to you once we're done." Utena stared at her wide eyed but soon enough she smiled. "Thanks for letting me talk about this with you." "It's no problem. Now do you think we could head to class now, I think the bell might ring anytime soon." "Sure." With that both girls turned around and headed to their classroom.

* * *

"So you're new to Tomaeda?" "What's it like living with Sakura?" "Is that your natural hair color?" After entering the classroom Utena was promptly introduced to each and every one of Sakura's friends and at the moment was being bombarded with questions by Naoko, Rika, and Chiharu, not that it wasn't bad or smothering in the least. "Hey, hey one question at time. Yanagisawa-san what were you saying before?" Naoko beamed. "Well I want to know how you got to live with Sakura?" Utena smiled, remembering the story she and Sakura had come up with in case people asked. "Well my aunt's an old friend of Sakura's dad and had to go on a business trip for a long time and couldn't take me, so Professor Kinomoto offered to let me live with him and Sakura."

While the three girls were talking to Utena, Sakura, Tomoyo, and Syaoran were near the door watching over the entire thing. "Tenjou-san really seems to be popular amongst girls." Tomoyo commented, watching Utena continuing to answer their questions. "I guess so," Syaoran awkwardly agreed. Sakura only giggled at the idea of Utena being great with the ladies. Immediately after that exchange between the three of them, Terada came in, causing everyone to go and sit down at their desks.

"Good morning class," he greeted, "today is the day we begin a new semester and I am sure that you are all aware that we have a new student here. Tenjou-san please stand and introduce yourself." Utena nodded and did as she was told. "Hello everyone, I am Utena Tenjou and I hope that we will all get along this year." Once she was done, she sat back down and class began. During their lesson, Utena noticed that Rika, who sat one desk down across from her, was blushing and looking up at something. She wasn't sure who are what it was she was staring at that would cause her to do so, but she decided not to prod anyway. After all it wasn't her business.

* * *

It was lunch time, meaning that everyone had gone outside to eat and chat with friends. Well almost everyone. Rika was still walking in the hallways, holding a flat object to her chest shyly. She soon stopped when she made her destination. She was going to knock on the doorway but she pulled her hand away. She tried again but her knuckles had barely even touched the woodwork for the door immediately slid open, revealing Reiko inside. "May I help you?" she asked.

Rika was surprised but she nodded yes anyway. She was led inside and sat in a chair in front of Reiko's desk. Absentmindedly she noted the picture of a butterfly on it. "So how can I help you?" Asked Reiko, sitting her chin on her hands. Rika looked away from her, the only thing she bothered to stare at being the object she held close to her chest; a framed picture of her graduating sixth grade class, with Terada having place one of his hands on her shoulder. She took a deep breath, still not looking at Reiko.

"Well there's this person," started Rika, vaguely noting Reiko's glasses glinting from the light entering the room, "and I really like them. They however don't know how I feel. It's not that I'm too shy to confess or anything, it's just that well there are circumstances that are preventing me from doing so. If it wasn't for that I would happily tell them how I feel."

"Deeper. Go deeper." urged Reiko,her glasses now shining brighter than before. Rika was trembling now, the picture now quivering in her hands . "Yes, if it wasn't for circumstances, for this world, I would happily tell them how I feel. If I could tell him how I feel, then maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't see me like another child, maybe he could finally see and know how I feel." A tear drop landed on the picture.

"IT'S JUST NOT FAIR!" shrieked Rika, slamming the picture frame on the ground, causing glass to scatter everywhere. She was hiding herself in her own arms now, tears streaming down the sides of her face. "It's just not fair! Everyone else gets to be open with their love, why can't I?! It's just not fair! It's just not fair! It's just not fair!" Rika was full on weeping now, burying her face in her hands to somehow hide the tears. While doing so, Reiko got up from her own chair and went around her desk to place her hand on the sobbing girl's shoulder. "I understand," she said, her fingers digging themselves into Rika's shoulder," I suppose you have no choice but to revolutionize the world. The way before you has been prepared."

Rika looked up from her hands, staring in confusion at Reiko. "What?" Unfortunately her question was going to be answered really soon, because immediately Reiko wrapped her arm around her throat. Rika was struggling, trying to breathe and trying to pull Reiko's arm away. Reiko grinning wickedly now, reaching for the black rose in the vase on her desk. "Now, now, don't struggle," she said in a fashion similar to a mother scolding her child, "afterall, this is your new heart… and your new life."

After finally grabbing her rose, she held it high in the air and brought it down.

Right. Through. Rika's. Chest.

The scream she gave out was silent. She also stopped struggling too. Reiko smiled, grabbing the girl's hand and placing a single Black Rose Signet on one of her fingers.

* * *

School was nearly over. Terada was at his desk, shuffling papers. He then heard a knock and turned in his chair to see Rika. "Ah Sasaki-san, good to see you." he commented. Rika nodded in return. He noticed that there was something off about her but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Perhaps it had something to do with that black rose on her chest.

Rika started to walk towards him. "Are you alright Sasaki-san?" Terada asked, concerned about his student's behavior. "No sensei I'm fine." She answered. "And it's all thanks to this rose." Terada was confused now. "What do you mean?" Rika only smiled.

Even more confused now, Terada tried to get up from his chair and speak to Rika, only to be stopped by a sharp pain his chest. He cringed forward, hands on his chest over when he felt the pain most and soon enough arched backwards. The pain felt more intense now, as if something was being pulled right out of him. The pain soon proved too much to bear and he ended up passing out in his chair.

Rika smiled. Now holding Terada's soul sword to her chest she could now do the purpose that was given to her when she was given her rose.

* * *

School had finally ended. Sakura and Utena were now nearly at their lockers. "So how was school for you today?" Sakura asked while stretching her arms behind her. "Oh it was ok," answered Utena, "although I hadn't seen Sasaki-san after lunch. What happened to her?" "Oh yeah she went missing. I have no clue what happened to her."

The girls were now at their lockers. By now mostly everyone had left - or so they believed. Opening up her locker, Utena found a white paper with simplified light lavender rose design on it. She brought it close to her face to inspect the message on it just in time for Sakura to turn around and see it. "Wow, it's only your first day and you already got a love letter?" said Sakura. "I don't exactly think it's a love letter," replied Utena, handing it over to Sakura, "look what it says." Sakura took it and read what it said; "To the one with the power to revolutionize the world: I will be waiting in Class 1-A after school."

"See what I meant," said Utena while Sakura was puzzling the message. ""The one with the power to revolutionize the world?"" Sakura said out loud. "What does that mean?" As if to answer their question, a voice sounded out along with some eerily cheerful music. "Extra, extra, extra," it said, startling Sakura and Utena who started looking around the room to see where it came from, unaware of the silhouette of a girl on a wall to the left of them. "Ah this is so bad, just awful, just the worst!" "How come?" she asked, only now her appearance ha changed to have short hair with a bun and the thin lines of glasses. "Oh, I lost my iconic headband that I wear all the time." the silhouette griped. "Oh, how so?" "In a fight to the death, winner take all and loser lose all." she replied to herself, back to her original appearance with the silhouette of boxing gloves on her hands and the sound of a bell ringing. "Well can't you get a new one?" "No I cannot." "And just why not?"

"Because it's a part of her identity." answered Utena, surprising both herself and Sakura. The music faded soon faded away. Utena turned around and walked towards the way to classes, only to have her arm grabbed by Sakura. "You're not actually going to go are you?" Sakura asked, concerned for her friend and still weirded out by the girl she couldn't see. "Well I have to don't I?" "Not really." "Yes she does." Piped in the voice, making Utena and Sakura search around the room again. "Well you heard the, uh, thing, I have to go." explained Utena. "Well," started Sakura, "at least let me go with you, just to make me feel better." "Ok."

The two of them headed towards 1-A. Once there, Utena slid open the door to find that Rika was inside, staring out the window. "Oh Sasaki-san, you're here," said Utena, her and Sakura walking into the room together, "a while ago we were just wondering what happened to you after lunch." Rika remained silent, her back still to them. Both Sakura and Utena were surprised by Rika's change in demeanor. "Rika-chan are you ok?" Sakura asked, concerned for the girl. Rika was still quiet.

Both of them were really concerned now. "Uh hey Sasaki-san," asked Utena walking up behind her, about to place her hand on her shoulder, "if you're not feeling well, me and Sakura could take you-"

Utena couldn't even finish that sentence, for Rika had turned around and sliced Utena's right cheek with a European styled rapier. Utena stumbled backwards, cupping her cheek in both hands while Sakura was shocked beyond belief. Rika looked at them - no Utena - and cruelly smiled. "I shall win this duel and bring death to the one with the power to revolutionize the world. I swear by this black rose." Rika said, touching the flower that the girls had just noticed on her chest along with the ring on her finger. Utena stared at the rose and ring, upon doing so she received a raging headache. She clutched her head in pain while visions of black swiping at her flew through her mind. "Rika-chan, what's wrong with you?! Why are you acting like this?!" Sakura demanded, shocked by her friend's change in both action and attitude.

Rika only giggled in return. "Because if I kill her then I can be with the one I love." She explained matter of factly. "Be with the one you love? What are you talking about?" "It's simple, if I kill her I can take her power and use it to change this stupid world and make be that I can be with him without any circumstances stopping me." Rika then looked to Utena. "And now," she said, raising her sword, "PREPARE TO DIE!"

Rika lunged at Utena sword first, only for her to dodge and end up slicing her left arm right through her uniform. Utena staggered backwards, holding her new wound in her hand. Rika's smile widened more and charged towards Utena, only for her to get out of the way again and end up stabbing the screen door. "We need to get out of here!" Utena yelled, grabbing Sakura's hand and getting the two of them out of the room into the hall while Rika was removing her sword.

They ran for the lives down the hall, knowing if they stopped harm would come to Utena. "Why is she acting like this?" Utena asked between puffs of breath. "I don't know." replied Sakura. Then it hit her. "But the last time something like this happened it was because Rika-chan was under the control of Sword." "So she's under someone's control?" "Apparently yes"

The girls kept running until they made a turn and went inside the first room that was open and slid the door shut. They huffed breaths of air as they laid against the wall while also noticing that they were in the kendo club room. The two turned to eachother with one last pant. "So do you think she's gone?" asked Sakura, only to be cruelly answered by a blade that stabbed its way through the screen. The blade then went down and both girls moved away from it. The slice it had made widened and tore as Rika allowed herself in the room, still smiling cruelly. "It's no use,"she started, walking in one step at a time, "you could hide and run as much as you want but I will still find and kill you. Just accept your fate and let my sword taste your blood!"

Rika dived right in, the tip of her sword nearing half centimeter near Utena's nose, only for her arm to be grabbed by Sakura. "Rika-chan please," begged Sakura while Rika was struggling to get her sword hand out of her grip, "don't hurt Utena-chan! This isn't you! Please just stop it!" "Shut up!" Rika snarled, punching Sakura in the face, making her fall over. Utena gasped at the sight; Sakura's nose was bruised and bleeding from both the cut on it and her nostrils. Utena was angered now.

She went and grabbed one of the bamboo swords and charged towards Rika in a way that felt nostalgic. Rika saw this and blocked her hit with her own sword. They continuously exchanged swords with each other, Rika getting more cuts on Utena. Sakura held her nose, the whole thing bringing tears to her eyes. Here she was just sitting around while her one of her friends was under some sort of mind control and the other fighting for her sake and she couldn't do anything about it. If only she had the cards on her.

Utena and Rika were still fighting, Utena covered in cuts while Rika didn't have a scratch on her. During their dueling Utena couldn't keep her eyes off of Rika's rose, remembering how she had swore on it earlier. An idea immediately came to Utena's mind. She raised her sword and with just one swipe, her sword sliced the rose right off of Rika.

Upon doing so Rika stumbled backwards and clutched her head while screaming in anguish and immediately passed out. Still panting herself, Utena walked over to her and one else down to check if she was all right. "Sasaki-san -" Instantly Utena was overcome with another headache, even more violent than before. She clutched her head, screaming in pain while Sakura stood up frightened by the scene herself. Soon the headache was too intense to bear that Utena ended up blacking out as well.

Alarmed by yet another friend of hers fainting again, Sakura ran over to both Rika and Utena and tried to wake them up. "Rika-chan! Utena-chan! Open your eyes! Please wake up!" Sakura begged, tears streaming down her face but to no avail did it work. She then sniffed back a sob and reached into her pocket and dialed a number. "Tomoyo-chan, I need your help…"

* * *

Reiko was furious. The sound of the wood chipper was tuned out from her anger. "Another failure again," noted the man, helping the chipper devour even more of the body bag, "you know you shouldn't be so angry, we still have ninety two roses left."

Reiko glared at him and immediately slapped him. "I am fully aware of that," she replied through gritted teeth, "I just can't believe we had failure on the first try." The man rubbed his cheek, still stinging from when she slapped him. "He won't even be angry about it." "Oh shut the hell up, of course he will be -" Reiko was cut off by the sound of the phone ringing. She walked over to it and before answering it inhaled a breath of air. "Hello," she said bluntly. "I suppose it didn't go well did it?" Reiko gritted her teeth. "I'll take that as a yes." "It wasn't my fault, he probably did something to the rose -" "I did not!" "Now, now you two there's no need to squabble like children, after all we still have ninety two roses left."

Reiko remained silent. "Good. Remember take her, along with anyone else who gets in our way, out." "A stupid girl like her doesn't deserve the power to revolutionize the world." He hanged up and Reiko put the phone down. Arms crossed, she still refused to look at the other man. "See I told you, nothing to worry about." the man reassured. Once the body was completely destroyed he had untied his pink hair from the pony tail he put it in. "If you want I could do the next one." Reiko turned around and glared at him. "No," she replied, "this is something I have to do myself." With that she walked over to the tank, caressing the black rose it held inside.


	4. Chapter 4

"And so I told Artemis "I can study any time I want so get off my back!" and long story short I had crammed at least two times before the test and barely made it out alive with a 70%." explained Minako to the girls who giggled in response. Right now Minako and Ami were in Usagi's room, sleeping over. They had done each other's nails, did facials, gossiped, and now were telling old stories to each other. Just as Usagi was about to tell her own story, a ringing sound erupted from Ami's bag. Ami reached into it and sure enough it was coming from her phone. "Oh excuse me, I need to take this." Ami said getting up from her sleeping bag. Both Usagi and Minako allowed her to leave and once she had done so they to each other and started a new conversation.

"So how are things with Mamoru?" asked Minako, winking coyly as well. "Oh you know miracle romance as usual," answered Usagi, "meanwhile how's your love life." Minako laughed, rubbing the back of her head. "Oh nothing special really, just the occasional eye candy now and then." "Really? Even Nanami-san?" Minako's eyes widened at that, a blush even bloomed across her face as well. "O-o-oh I wouldn't exactly count her in," stuttered Minako, trying to laugh it off, "I mean sure she's cute and all, and not to mention really pretty, but other than that she's not -" "Oh come on Minako-chan," teasingly chided Usagi, nudging her own shoulder against hers, "I saw the way you were looking at her."

What Usagi said was true; while Nanami had been stealing glances at Minako, Minako herself was also taking some not-so-subtle peeks at her as well. "Come on admit it, you like her." teased Usagi, playfully elbowing her. Minako turned the other way but soon enough relented. "Alright I do like her." Usagi squealed in delight, hugging her friend. "Oh I knew it! So are you gonna ask her out anytime soon?" "No."

Usagi blinked, surprised at Minako's blunt tone in her answer. She looked at her and saw the she was looking away in a somewhat sorrowful manner. "How come?" asked Usagi, concerned about the goddess of love's sudden change in attitude. "I just don't want to that's all." answered Minako, still looking away. "Oh come on Minako-chan, you can tell me. There were other people you wanted to date before, just what makes Nanami-san so different?" Minako sighed. "Well I just feel a lot more different about her than everyone else." she explained. "Nanami-san, she feels warmer and brighter than the others, in fact that somewhat got my attention about her." Minako smiled, recounting the girl's wavy pale blonde locks, her amethyst eyes, and how god damn cute she looked in the T.A uniform.

"So why don't you ask her out if you like her so much?" Usagi still questioned. Minako leaned her head back. "Do you remember Kaitou Ace?" she asked, piquing Usagi's interest. "Oh yeah of course I do!" Usagi excitedly replied, nodding her head. "He was an idol who helped you out during your Sailor V days, your "first" love who then in the end turned out to be working for the Dark Kingdom and in our past lives was a Venusian foot soldier who had a crush on you and told you -" Usagi stopped right there, awkwardly remembering what happened. Ace told Minako just as she regained all her memories that she her love would be doomed because she would always choose duty. "Oh, that." Minako still looked away. "Nanami-san is special, she's a magical girl too so she could get into all sorts of trouble and if I were to be in a situation where I had to save only one of you…" Minako trailed off, unable to continue speaking. Her duty was to protect Usagi, her princess, so she would always save her, leaving Nanami to whatever fate was for her.

Usagi saw the pained look on her face, seeing just how the idea tortured her, and furrowed her eyebrows. She grabbed Minako by both shoulders and turned her towards her. "Minako-chan," she started, her features giving of resolve and determination, "it was said that Sailor Pluto would guard the Door of Space and Time all alone for all eternity." Minako stared her princess, trying to figure out where she was going with this. "Neptune and Uranus said that Sailor Saturn would destroy the world, and Nehellenia herself said that I would never see to the throne. And do you know what all of these have in common?" Minako blinked and answered "They were all proven wrong?" Usagi nodded, happy that she had gotten it right. "Exactly, and if all these were proved wrong then I'm sure Ace could be proven wrong well."

Minako stared at her and smiled. "Usagi …" "Minako-chan, if you can protect me then I'm sure you can protect Nanami-san too." Minako nodded her head in agreement. Usagi was right, if she could defend her princess so easily then she could protect both Usagi and Nanami just as easily. Before she could say anything else, Ami came back into room. "Oh Ami-chan, you're back. Who called?" asked Minako, who after upon doing so noticed the somber expression upon her friend's face.

Ami sniffed back what most likely was a sob and answered the question.

"Tenjou-san … was attacked!"

* * *

_It was an incredibly glorious setting. The walls and dancefloor were a lovely pearl tone, marble columns depicted lovers embracing, every silk covered table had a gorgeous bouquet of white roses, stephanotis, and lilacs, however they would all go on unnoticed due to the belle of the ball. Yes the belle of the ball who was none other than Nanami Kiryuu, who at the moment was being fawned over by two girls, one with braids and one with a bow._

"_Ah Nanami-sama," cooed Braids, "you look absolutely beautiful in that gown of yours." Referring to the yellow gown she was wearing, adorned with frills, bows, and jewels, Nanami simply laughed it off. "Ohohohoho, oh please do continue," she said. "Ah Nanami-sama," cooed Bow, "your hair looks so lovely tonight too." Referring to her pale blonde hair curled into ringlets, adorned with frills, bows, and feathers, Nanami simply laughed it off. "Ohohohoho, oh please do continue." she said again._

_However neither girl would be able to continue, not because there wasn't anything else to fawn over, but because of the roar of trumpets introducing a new guest to the party. The herald got up to floor at the top of the stairs and cleared his throat. "Introducing, Lady Minako Aino!" As soon as he said that, the double doors slowly opened up to reveal the goddess of love incarnate. Everyone's eyes were on her, even Nanami's, who surprisingly wasn't jealous her belle of the ball status was being usurped. She truly was the most gorgeous woman there, however that wasn't the only thing that made her stand out. While most women there were dresses in their finest gowns and such, she was actually dressed in a man's attire, with a royal blue coat embroidered in gold that brought out her eyes, tan breeches and brown knee length boots, and hair tied into a low ponytail by a red bow._

_As she descended down the stairs everyone commented on her beauty. "Look at that gorgeous shade of blue her eyes are! It's like staring into a lovely pair of blue topazes." "Talk about eyes all you want, it's the hair I'm really loving. It's like hay was spun into gold and tied all together by a gorgeous red bow." "I don't even mind that she's wearing men's clothes, it actually just adds to her charm." "Maybe it's for our own good she's dressed like this, because if she was in a gown we would all drop dead from how breathtaking she would look!"_

_After she had finished going down the stairs she went up to the first woman in front of her … who just so happened to be Nanami. She bowed to her with all the grace of a gentleman and kindly held her hand. "Tell me, are you the beautiful hostess of this ball?" Minako asked, gazing into her eyes. Nanami giggled, using her feather fan to hide both the grin and the blush appearing on her face. "Indeed I am." she replied. When she had done so, she heard the orchestra creating a brand new tune. Minako held her hand in both of hers, bringing it to her chest. "I see the next minuet is starting," she spoke, everyone around them already starting to dance, "would you kindly do me the honor of dancing with me?" Nanami lowered her fan, revealing her smile and blush to the other female. "Absolutely." she answered._

_Minako smiled, taking one of her hands and placing it on her shoulder and wrapping her own around her waist, having their remaining hands clasped around each other. They took short steps, slowly moving around doing so. Some steps went fowards, some backwards, all around, in fact some point during their dance Minako twirled Nanami much to her enjoyment. Soon everyone's eyes were upon the two, so deeply caught in each other's hold that neither noticed. Eventually the minuet ended and they were applauded by everyone in attendance. As the orchestra were starting a new song, Nanami wrapped both her arms around Minako's and led her outside to the garden._

_The garden was filled with many sorts of flowers, from ambrosia and chrysanthemum to viscaria and violets. After walking through all the blossoms the garden had to offer, they finally made it to Nanami's favorite spot; a marble bench in front of a bush of red tipped yellow roses. Once they sat down on the bench, Nanami laid her head against Minako's shoulder and sighed. "I haven't had a good dance like that in a long time," confessed Nanami, still laying her head against Minako. "I haven't had a good dance like that in forever!" Minako joked, making both girls giggled. They then looked up towards the sky, gazing at the infinite mass of stars. "Do you know any of the constellations?" asked Nanami. "No," admitted Minako, "do you?" "Not at all." They both laughed at their lack of stellar knowledge until Minako went back to staring at the night._

"_I may not know stars, but I do know something." Minako boasted. She then pointed up at a peculiar looking star, one that seemed to glow brighter than all the stars they could see. "That one right there, that's Venus." she explained, Nanami lifting her head off her shoulder and lifting to her head up to get a better look. "Wow," she exclaimed, "it looks so gorgeous." Minako nodded. "I know."_

_They continued looking up at the stars in complete silence until Minako spoke up again. "Hey when are you going to have your next ball?" she asked. "Oh well I hold one every month, so uh next month of course." answered Nanami, blushing and timidly looking away. "But I'll allow you to return tomorrow if you like so uh, uh, uh …" she trailed off, Minako getting off from the bench and holding her hand out to lift Nanami up. Nanami happily grabbed her hand and got up, cradling it both of her hands. "I think I would like to return tomorrow," answered Minako, "if it'll mean I get to see you again." That made Nanami blush even more and caused her to look all around the garden rapidly so that Minako wouldn't see._

_But Minako did see, and she smiled at it. She then plucked a rose from the bush and gave it to Nanami who then winced as she accidentally pricked her finger on one of the thorns. "Are you alright?" Minako asked, concerned about how much her finger was bleeding. "Oh don't worry about it, I'm sure it's not that bad …" Nanami couldn't finish that sentence, for Minako had taken her hand and placed her finger in her lips to numb to the pain and stop the bleeding. Nanami gazed at the sight, blushing even more. After her finger stopped bleeding, Minako locked eyes with her and held her hand to her chest again, leaning her face closely into hers._

"_Nanami-san," she whispered huskily. "Aino-san," Nanami whispered in return. "Please call me Minako." Minako requested, rotating her head while still leaning towards Nanami. "Minako-san …" Nanami trailed off, closing her eyes and leaning into Minako as well. They then embraced in embraced in the most passionate kiss of all time … or would have if it hadn't been for the loud crack of thunder they heard._

_They pulled away from each other, surprised to hear but not see a storm. That was when bolt of lightning then crashed down from the sky into the ground right between Minako and Nanami. The ground or struck then began to crack into many pieces until it crumbled and the side Minako was on then fell into a deep dark abyss. Trying to grab each other's hand, they missed by a fingertip and Minako was sent screaming off into the darkness. "NANAMI!" "MINAKO!" Nanami then collapsed onto her knees and began to sob into her hands. "Why?" she sobbed out. "Why did it have to be Minako-san?"_

"_Because she broke the law, Nanami."_

_She stopped weeping immediately when she heard that familiar voice and turned around to see that it was none other than her brother. "Onii-san?" she asked while getting up and turning around, oh so horribly confused. "What are you talking about?" Touga just simply stared at her. "She went against God's law Nanami," he answered, "she went against God's designs." "W-what do you mean Onee-san?" "Nanami, God made men and women, because that is the most ideal combination. Your friend there went against that." Nanami eyes widened in horror. "T-that's not - that's not right!" she yelled. The tears once again streamed down her face. "Minako-san didn't deserve this!" Touga still stared at her apathetically. "It's alright Nanami," he said, "you'll be joining her real soon." "What?"_

_Before she could ask any more questions, Touga had pushed her off the edge into the darkness, Nanami screaming her lungs out as she fell rapidly into the void._

* * *

Nanami immediately awoke in a cold sweat, panting. She gazed around, she was still in her room, still in her mat. Her eyes then settled on a Rose of Versailles manga lying on top of her cover that she then grabbed. She looked at the cover and then scowled at it. "Stupid recommended reading." she muttered, throwing the manga away. "Ow!" Turning towards where that came from, she saw Kyoko on the phone rubbing the back of her head from where she accidentally threw the manga. Kyoko turned around to her with an angry look on her face.

"Do you fucking mind!" she yelled, "I'm trying to talk to Sayaka! Huh? Oh sorry that was just my stupid roommate. Yes I've been nice to her." Nanami glared at her during those last two sentences and then turned around and huddled herself into a ball. _That dream was awful_, she thought to herself_, is it really wrong for me to like Minako-san that way? _While pondering this, Rei slid open the door to her and Kyoko's room while holding a phone. "Oh, Rei-san do you need something?" asked Nanami, wondering what she could possibly need. "No," Rei answered, "I just needed to tell you and Kyoko that I'm heading out." Heading out?

"Oh really, where to?" "Tomaeda." "Tomaeda? Wait a minute isn't that out of town?" "Yeah see a friend of Ami's got hurt really bad so me and her are gonna Sailor Teleport over there." Nanami blinked. "Wait you can't go! We have school tomorrow! Can't someone else go?!" "No, Usagi, Minako, and Mako all have big test tomorrow and the Outers busy dealing with … other matters. So I'm the only one that can go. I don't know if I'll be back before school, but I'm sure you'll do just fine -" "No I won't! I still don't know the school well enough! I need you to stay and help me! Can't Mizuno-san go by herself?" "Can't, Sailor Teleport is the quickest way to get there and it requires two or more senshi to do it." "But -" " What?! Really!?"

Rei and Nanami turned to see Kyoko getting excited over something Sayaka said. "Ok I'll be right there." Kyoko said, hanging up. "Ok Rei, change of plans. You and Mizuno are gonna teleport me to Mitakihara and then you two can go to where ever it is you're going." Rei merely blinked at her. "No." "What?! Oh come on! You yourself said that Sailor Teleport is the fastest way to travel!" "And although it's true, Ami and I are not gonna waste time dropping you off at your girlfriend's place." "Ah come on Rei this is really important!" "And why is it?" "Her parents aren't home!" Rei's eyebrow twitched at that. "What?" "Her parents aren't home, that's why it's important!" Rei only stared at Kyoko. "I'm leaving now." she said, turning around and closing the door.

Unfortunately for Rei she couldn't even leave their room by a foot before Nanami and Kyoko clamped their arms around each of her ankles. "Rei-san," Nanami whined, "you can't leave me alone in that school. You're not just hurting Nanami your roommate here, but also Nanami your kohai." Rei dragged the foot Nanami was on, gritting her teeth. "I'm sorry Nanami," Rei apologized, annoyed, "but who knows, I could return before school starts tomorrow." "I can't trust something like that! You need to stay!" "No she needs to go and take me!" Kyoko butted in, getting dragged along the hardwood floor as well. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity! This isn't just for me, this is for Sayaka too!" "I'm pretty sure Miki-san can go on fine without you visiting her." "But this is a big deal! Her parents aren't home! This really is a once in a lifetime opportunity!"

Rei started to get annoyed by her roommates, soon enough she wouldn't take it anymore. "Rei-san!" "Rei!" "Rei-san!" "Rei!" " Rei-san!" "Rei -" BONK! After finally getting fed up by their constant complaining, Rei hit both of her roommates hard enough on the head to leave them dazed and to leave bumps the size of tomatoes on them. Rei glared at the two of them, hands on her hips. "Now if you two will excuse me I have to go and help Ami-chan." With that she turned around and headed outside the shrine, leaving behind both Nanami and Kyoko. Nanami sniffed. "Rei-san." she whined out.

* * *

Anthy stared into her cup of tea/makeshift scrying bowl solemnly. Watching through it she was able to see Utena get attacked by a black rose controlled classmate of hers, defeat her only to receive a headache that was so bad she passed out, and then her and the classmate be carried out into a limousine by various women in suits. Now at the moment Utena was lying in a bed in the house that belonged to a friend of her roommate, still unconscious. Anthy sighed at the sight, wishing she could do something about it, knowing that she couldn't. "Lady Himemiya," said Soroi, shaking her out of her thoughts, "is there something wrong with the tea?" Anthy shook her head. "Oh no not at all." she assured, taking a sip of the tea to prove so. Seeing that the tea was alright Soroi turned around, giving Anthy the chance to visibly wince at the bitter flavor.

After finishing up her dinner (most of which was eaten by Chuchu) she excused herself from the Mankanshokus and Ryuko and headed to her room. Once there she headed to her bathroom and turned on the faucet to the tub. Chuchu poured an entire bottle of bubble bath as the tub filled up while she was taking off every layer of clothing and pinning her hair up in an adorable odango style she saw online. When she finished doing all of that, she stepped right into the claw foot bathtub overflowing with bubbles. She leaned back into the bubbles closing her eyes, trying to relax while Chuchu was sailing about in the white foam on an adorable little toy boat she gotten him. Unfortunately she couldn't calm herself so easily, Utena's current well-being was plaguing her mind.

She cleared away some of bubbles to watch Utena again while Chuchu's ship had sprung a leak and the small creature was left scurrying about the deck in panic. Right now Utena was still in bed, only now she was surrounded by other people such as her roommate, who was on her knees near the bed with her arms on it and was watching Utena sorrowfully, and her roommate's friends, a girl with long gorgeous hair and a boy with brown hair. Anthy sighed in relief, happy knowing that Utena had people on her side to protect her, especially that blue haired sailor girl. Chuchu himself was also alright, now floating contentedly around in a pink inner tube he had scavenged from his ship. Anthy then ran her fingers through the image, dissolving it and leaving trails of suds through where it once was. Oh how she wish she could be able to be with Utena in person again, but now wasn't such a great time for that for until Utena regains her memories she couldn't be around her.

Anthy then stepped out of the bath, tying on a silk pearl colored bathrobe she then drained the tub of water, leaving Chuchu screeching as he was left to spin around until he got his head stuck in the drain. When he then later got out from it, Chuchu scurried back into to his and Anthy's room to find her at her desk, hair free flowing and out of those buns and wearing owl patterned pajamas. As he climbed up to her shoulder, Anthy was busy tapping her pencil against a blank page in her sketchbook, trying to get inspiration to come to her. She then sighed and got up from her desk, deciding to do it later. She then went to lie down on her bed, trying to think of ways to busy herself until she got tired. She could knit something, but she didn't feel the motivation to do so. Maybe she could go online and see some other stylish tutorials, but she also didn't have the motivation to try that out either. Anthy then decided to check up on Utena again, only this time without the use of scrying. She grabbed her phone from her desk and opened up an app titled MGC. She was met with a blank magenta purple screen for about a minute until a thin blue white line then went up and down the screen, scanning her. Once that was done, a cute little smiley face appeared along with the words "Mahou Approved", and then soon disappeared to reveal her page (RevolutionEvolution88) on Magical Girl Community.

She smiled, remembering how she got into the magical girl community. She was just walking around a city with Chuchu until suddenly a creature calling itself Tarantula Claw then showed up and started attacking people by tying them up in it's string. It tried doing the same to her, but she used her magic to deflect it's attack, causing it to become trapped in it's own webbing as well. Then a red haired woman wearing a very sexy outfit calling herself Cutie Honey came in giving a speech only to be surprised to find the creature tied up and girl having picnic beside it with a tiny purple monkey. A bit confused though, the red head nevertheless killed Tarantula Claw by using her rapier to destroy it. Cutie Honey then went to talk to her, eating some her shaved ice as well, and asked if she had anything to do with taking down the creature to which she cheerily replied yes to. Cutie Honey then detransformed (in a very sexy way too) and become a long hair blonde who she properly introduced herself as Honey Kisaragi. Honey then took her back to her detective agency where she met Natsuko Aki, Honey's tough-as-nails partner and lover, and Granny, a kind old lady that made the most delicious rice balls, and then introduced her to the website and app Magical Girl Community, which was created by the most tech savvy of magical girls, and scanned Anthy and proved her to be a magical girl too. MGC had everything such as webpages of magical girls/boys/beings/familiars/etc, advertisements for housing, thesis essays on things from being a magical girl such as transformations and attack phrases, and so on. Anthy then made a page for herself and helped Honey out for about two weeks before being accepted for rooming with Satsuki.

Right now Anthy was checking Utena's roommate's page, CardcaptorCutie, for any updates about Utena's condition. She found none and then went to her familiar's page, xxXKeroberosXxx, and read the recent update about how he was currently taking CardcaptorCutie's father to where Utena was. Seeing she couldn't find anything else about Utena, Anthy then turned off the phone and decided to watch infomercials till she became tired. With Chuchu on her shoulder, she walked out of her room and headed right towards the living room only to find Satsuki there sitting on the couch watching TV. "Hello Himemiya-san." she said, turning to her and then back to the TV. "Hello Kiryuin-san." Anthy said back, still standing where she was. A silence grew between them. "Would you like to sit down?" "Alright." Anthy sat on the couch, at least one cushion away from Satsuki, and turned her gaze towards the TV. Judging from the woman slicing the man's foot off with piano wire, Satsuki was apparently watching a horror movie. Anthy didn't mind it at all, though she did wish to turn to a home shopping channel.

Both girls just watched in utter silence, seeing the man's son push the woman down some stairs causing her to break her neck. "Is it scaring you?" Satsuki asked, breaking the mutual silence. "No not really." replied Anthy. They turned back to the TV to see the woman tell the man she couldn't wait to see him again with her dying breath. After that the credits rolled, signifying the end of the movie. "You know," said Satsuki, eyes still focused on the screen, "they're going to replay it again so incase you want to watch it -" "Alright." The movie started up again, beginning with the man's son urging his father to take up dating again. It was at the part where the man was starting to feel the effects of the drug slipped into his liquor by the woman that Anthy asked Satsuki "Is it scaring you?" Satsuki merely looked to floor. "No," she replied, "I've faced much worse things than this." Anthy stared at her, somewhat understanding what she meant.

"I know what you mean," Anthy said, turning away and looking to the floor as well, "I faced things scarier than a horror movie as well."

* * *

_Black._

_That was all there was to see._

_Absolutely nothing but infinite darkness._

_But then that changed._

_It all immediately became gray with thin black lines and a circle with a number in it, counting down from 5 to 1._

_It all became black again but soon started to brighten up._

_The first thing she saw was hands._

_Little tiny chubby hands most likely belonging to a baby._

_Were these her hands?_

_The brightness of everything soon started to dim and she saw that she was inside a crib reaching out to two people resting their arms on the bar, happily looking down at her._

_Her parents?_

_One of them, the woman, her mother, put both of her hands inside the crib and pulled her out to hold her._

_She contentedly sucked her thumb as the woman rubbed her hand up and down her back before handing her to the other of the two, the man, her father._

_Her father looked at her, smiling, and then he lifted her up, bouncing her much to her enjoyment and laughter._

_Her father then stopped and brought her close to his chest, her mother coming to his side and both of them stared lovingly at her._

_Many more things started to flash before her, such as when she was learning to walk and fell right into her father's hands after waddling a few a steps, when she was learning to swim with both of her parents, when she was learning to ride a bike only to scrape her knee and got tended by her mother, and when her parents were the last people she saw before the anesthesia kicked in preparing her for her appendix removal operation._

_Everything seemed so happy and pleasant._

_But that all changed._

_She was sitting in the back of the car, her parents turning around to look at her and smile._

_Looking out the window she saw that they were at a red light and her father at the wheel was waiting for it to change so that they could go._

_This felt very strange to her, like the calm before the storm._

_Soon that calm was destroyed._

_Looking out to the window on her right, she saw a flash of red zooming towards their car and -_

_The sound of glass shattering resounded and everything became black._

_When she woke up she found herself in a white room with white curtains around, in a bed covered in bandages._

_A man in a lab coat, a doctor, came in expressing his joy that she was awake but she didn't care._

_She wanted to know where her parents were and so looked around the room and soon enough asked the doctor._

_The doctor's joy immediately faded away._

_He looked down and explained to her that she and her parents were caught in a car accident, and that he and other doctors did what they could but -_

_A long beep resounded throughout the room._

_It was coming from her right, and so she turned around saw the bodies of her parents._

_Dead._

_Her eyes widened in horror._

_Who would've thought that her life could immediately change like that, how she could immediately go from having the most loving parents in the world to becoming an orphan._

_Who would've thought that her mama and papa wouldn't be around forever and that in an instance they would be gone._

_Who would've thought that humans' lives were so fleeting and could be taken away any time._

_Who would've thought that despite knowing this people still continue to live on as if everything's fine._

_Who would've thought that it was horrible to live on while this was the fate of everyone!_

_Her cheek felt moist._

_She just realized she was crying._

_She continued to stare at what was now her parents corpses and said_

"_Being alive is sickening."_

_It then all flashed forward to her relatives preparing for her parents' funeral, while she sat around feeling absolutely dead inside._

_She soon decided she had enough and ran off._

_She didn't care that people would notice she was missing, she just wanted to get away from all the living._

_It was raining but she didn't care._

_She soon ran across the church where the funeral would be held and saw two men come out of it._

_She hid behind door of the church, overhearing their conversation._

"_Well now that we've finished that couple why don't we work on the boy now?"_

"_Alright. Poor kid, taken away at such a young age."_

"_Yeah it's a real shame. Hey do you know how he died?"_

_"Not really how?"_

"_Well apparently this girl was drowning and the kid took it upon himself and save her."_

"_Oh so he died a hero?"_

_"Not exactly. You see a nearby adult came and saved the girl and the kid just drowned."_

"_Well that's a little sad. He went in for nothing."_

"_Yeah he did. Now come on, let's go and do him up like he died with honor."_

_When they left she looked down at the ground, bile filling up in her throat._

_She was more sickened than before after hearing the two men talk._

_Now there were human beings who would throw their lives away and it be all for nothing._

_She decided she had enough._

_Enough of the living, enough of the life throwing gambles, enough of the light, enough of everything._

_She ran inside the church, sopping wet, and in a flash of lightning saw it._

_Three coffins in a row with rose marks on them._

_She saw the one to the far left was open and also empty, meaning that the other two were -_

_She couldn't bring herself to finish that thought._

_Instead she went to that coffin and peered inside it._

_The inside was filled with roses, pink as her hair._

_A realization then hit her: this coffin was for her._

_Yes. That had to be it._

_Just think about it._

_It was the same shape and style as her parents, had the same rose mark as theirs, and to prove it even more it had pink roses inside._

_Yes she understood that it was for the boy that drowned but she would use it for the time being._

_And then when the men would come to put him inside she would come out only to hide in another one._

_Yes that will be it._

_Every time someone would open her coffin she would go and hide herself in another._

_Yes for now on that would be her life._

_Absolute coffins._

_She stood on her tip toes, put both hands inside, put one leg inside and then the other and she was immediately in._

_Inside the coffin._

_To officially complete her task, she pulled on the lid using all the strength she could muster and -_

_Black._

_That was it when she completely closed the coffin._

_Absolute darkness._

_She could be fine with this, yes really fine._

_She didn't need that God damn sun anyway._

_Yes this where she would stay, forever and ever and ever and -_

_She heard a creak._

_Along with the creak she heard two voices._

_Had the two men finished their job already?_

_No, the voices she heard were of different pitch._

_Along with the voices she heard footsteps._

_Footsteps that were getting closer and closer._

_She panicked, squeezing herself even more into a fetal position._

_It got closer._

"_Don't open it._

_Closer._

"_Please don't open it._

_Closer._

"_Don't open it."_

_Closer._

"_Please don't open it."_

_It stopped._

_The coffin was being opened._

"_STOP IT!"_

_Lightning flashed and thunder cracked._

"_Don't open it. Please don't open it._

_It was too late now._

_Her coffin was opened._

"_She's been hiding in a place like this?"_

_A voice belonging to a boy._

"_Everyone's been looking for you."_

_Another voice belonging to a boy._

_Of course they were._

_"Are you going to tell someone I'm in here?"_

_They probably would since it was the most obvious thing to do-_

"_No, I won't tell anyone."_

_That surprised her._

_The boy that said that then held her hair._

"_Hey."_

" _I'm always on the girl's side… because I am a gentleman."_

"_Still, why have you been hiding in a place like this?"_

_She knew that they would ask that._

_So she explained how the coffins next to her were her parents, how the one she was in was meant for her, and that being alive was sickening._

"_I see…"_

_The boy held her hair more._

_She didn't care._

_Let him do what he wants._

_She continued to speak._

"_It's sickening… Why does everyone go on living knowing they'll end up dying anyway? I wonder why I never realized that until today. Eternity couldn't possibly exist, could it?_

"_Eternity?"_

" _And so, it's all right now. I will never leave this coffin."_

_Her hair slipped right through the boy's fingers._

" _But someone will find you, eventually."_

_She knew they would ask that too._

_So she told them her plan to keep hiding in coffins and to never see the sun again._

_Soon the boys left, leaving her in her coffin._

_She heard one of them arguing with the other, perhaps about leaving her in her coffin, and then the crack of thunder and flash of lightning again._

_Finally she could stay, stay all alone in her coffin._

_She closed her eyes and remained were she was._

_She remained there until -_

_A film reel pattern flipped before her, somewhat like in old movies._

_It then started to burn holes right before her eyes before turning all white then -_

* * *

Light flooded her sight as Utena opened her eyes. She squinted, trying to get a good look at her surroundings. From what she could tell this definitely wasn't her room: the bed was too wide to be a twin mattress, the blanket felt thicker than the one she had, and there was also a white canopy which she was certain she did not have. "Sakura-chan, look!" a voice said. She turned her gaze to the front to find Sakura with a bandage across her nose and her boyfriend and girlfriend she was introduced to that day all kneeling next to the bed. The most notable thing about it was the tears streaming from Sakura's eyes. "Utena-chan!" cried Sakura, getting up and going over to her bedridden friend. She hugged her, surprising Utena. "Sakura?" said Utena, trying to get up only to be put down by her friend.

"Don't get up you need to rest." Utena allowed her and looked around once more. Yep still not her room. "Sakura where am I?" she asked, "what happened-" It all came back to her. Rika had gotten brainwashed and fought her with a sword and she defeated her with a bamboo sword by slicing off her rose and then they both passed out, Rika from anguish at losing and Utena from a horrible headache she received after winning. "We're at Tomoyo-chan's house," Sakura explained, "her bodyguards took Rika home and we told her mother that she passed out at school and then we took you here to get you bandaged by the maids." When she said that Utena immediately noticed the bandage on her cheek ,and while touching that her sleeve slipped down to reveal more bandages down her arm. She then heard the door (doors? sounded like more than one) burst open and then Fujitaka, Toya, Yukito, and Kero entered her range of sight.

"Tenjou-san, are you alright?" Fujitaka asked, Utena taking note of his disheveled appearance. "Kerberos called us as soon as he got news of what happened and we immediately drove all the way here." Yukito explained, Toya nodding behind him in agreement. "And I flew the professor here all by myself as soon as he got home." Kero said, confusing Utena and making her imagine the tiny creature holding Fujitaka by his suit as he strenuously tried to carry him as he flew. "Is she gonna be alright - Sakura what happened to you!?" exclaimed Toya, finally noting the bandage and noticeable bruise around it on his sister's face and causing the other recently arrived to notice as well. "Oh uh well when Utena got attacked, Rika-chan punched me when I tried to stop her -" Sakura stopped talking when she and just about everyone else noticed the bright light behind her. It was white and large at first, beaming down from the sealing, soon it divided in two and into two different colors respectively, red and blue, and soon enough both lights dimmed to reveal Eternal Sailors Mars and Mercury holding hands.

They let go and Mercury, with tears brimming in her eyes, turned around to see Utena in bed. "Tenjou-san!" She ran over to her, tears now bursting forth, kneeled down to the bed and hugged her too. "I'm so happy you're ok." she said pulling away but still hugging her. "As soon as she heard what happened she called me and told me everything and to come and Sailor Teleport over here." Mars explained, walking over to the two. Mercury turned towards Sakura, noting the bandage across her face as well. "Kinomoto-san," she asked, "could you please explain to all of us what happened?" Sakura did, starting with how her and Utena were about to leave only for Utena to find a letter in her locker, addressing her as "the one with the power to revolutionize the world", that told her to meet in class and the voice they heard that encouraged her to do so, how they found Rika there, which she also added had gone missing that day, how she attacked Utena and swore on the black rose she wore to kill her and that Utena fought back when she hurt Sakura, and then soon enough defeated her only for Rika to pass out and for Utena to follow suit thanks to the headache she got.

"So this friend of your's was brainwashed?" Mars asked while Mercury looked away from Utena solemnly. "This is so unfair," she said, her hands balling up into fists, "we sent Tenjou-san here because it was the most safest place to be." It was formerly true, due to Sakura having captured all the cards and Eriol no longer creating ways for Sakura to convert them, Tomaeda was generally the safest place for Utena to be in. "Mizuno-san," said Utena, placing her hand on one of the guardian of intelligence's fists, "it's not your fault. You couldn't have predicted that this would happen." "I know but," she looked down, misery still evident in her eyes, "we were supposed to keep you safe. " The pained look on her face killed her inside, so Utena decided to do something. "Um everyone," she started, everyone's attention turning to her, "do you think all of you could leave me, Sakura, and Mizuno-san alone for a bit?" They were all somewhat confused by her request, but nevertheless Kero, Fujitaka, Toya, Yukito, Tomoyo, Syaoran, and Mars detransforming all left the room, leaving only the three of them behind.

"So why did you want all of us to be alone together?" Mercury asked. Utena looked down at her hands and then up to her friends. "Lately… lately I've been having these dreams." "Dreams?" "Well only from last night and now. The first one I had was very fast and also blurry, all that I know about it was that I was fighting." "Fighting? What were you fighting?" "I'm not quite sure really, but that's not important. What's really important is the other dream I had, just right now. In the beginning of it I was only a baby and I was with my parents." "Wait with your parents - Tenjou-san are you saying this dream that you had was -" "Yes it was a memory. Through it I also regained more memories, mostly stuff of when I was little. And then there was this one memory …" Utena trailed off, the very thought of that memory making her cringe. Both Sakura and Mercury saw how this one memory was hurting Utena and so they each held one of her hands. "Utena-chan." "Tenjou-san." "If you don't want to talk about it that's ok." Utena wearily smiled at the two, holding both of their hands as well.

"No," she said, "I have to tell you both this one, it's really important." And so Utena went on to speak about her memory, how she and her parents were at a red light trying to get home only for them to all get into a car crash with Utena herself being the lone survivor of it. She then continued speaking about how depressed it made her younger self be that she had viewed being alive as sickening and locked herself away in a coffin. "And then these two boys came in and found me, telling me that everyone was looking for me and stuff. We talked for a bit, me telling them how being alive was sickening and what not. They left later leaving me behind in my coffin, and then…" "Then what?" "That's about it, that's all I can remember. I'm pretty sure there was more but that was all I got." Both girls looked at her with such such sorrow and pain. "Utena-chan, I'm so sorry about your parents." "Tenjou-san if you want I know some people who have lost their parents at a young age. If you want I could arrange a group counseling with all of them for you-" "Don't worry about it," interrupted Utena, "in fact I kinda feel better telling you both about it, like something heavy has been lifted off of me." "Tenjou-san …"

Mercury looked to her and then to Sakura. "Kinomoto-san, tell me do you have experience with this sort of thing?" "Experience?" "With people being brainwashed to attack others, somewhat like your friend." Sakura thought about that and the shook her head. After all the only time something like that had happened was when Sword put Rika under it's control. "I see…," Mercury trailed off, getting off of her knees to stand up, "then - then I'll get someone who has experience with this." Utena and Sakura stared at her in surprise. "What?" "I'll look online at Magical Girl Community to find anyone with experienced with this sort of thing and convince them to move here to Tomaeda to help you two." "Really Ami-chan, you would do that?" "Yes," she replied, turning to Utena, "anything for a friend."

* * *

Later on in the night, both Sailors Mars and Mercury teleported back to Juuban, after them Yukito and Toya went back to their place, then later Syaoran was driven back to his apartment by Wu, and now Utena, Sakura, and Kero were getting into a limo chartered by Tomoyo's mother, who at the moment was busy one-sidedly arguing with Fujitaka."You know it's good thing Mizuno-san recommended that Tenjou-san not go to school tomorrow." Tomoyo said, outside of the limo window. "Really?" "Yes. After all did you see what Rika-chan did to her uniform." Tomoyo certainly had a point, Rika had sliced Utena's uniform into near ribbons in their duel. "Well let's look on the bright side," suggested Kero, already helping himself to the complementary sweets provided, "now you all have an excuse to go shopping tomorrow." "He's right," agreed Utena, "plus we could get a gift for Sasaki-san too, you know for all she's been through." "That's great idea Utena-chan! And I already know the perfect place to get her a gift!" "Really? Where?" "Twin Bell." "Twin Bell? Oh that's one of the shops you showed me right?" "Mmhmm." "That's a wonderful Sakura-chan! So I'll see you tomorrow then?" "Yep, tomorrow." With that Tomoyo kissed Sakura on the temple goodbye while Fujitaka had gotten into the limo and soon enough it left for their house.

* * *

"WILL YOU WAKE THE FUCK UP ALREADY!" Nanami was cruelly awakened by Kyoko, from both her screaming and her throwing her still ringing recently bought alarm clock at her head. Nanami rubbed the back of her head, tears threatening to spill from her eyes from pain. "What the hell was that for!?" she screeched. "You're kidding me right?" Nanami only hmphed and turned away, getting up and heading towards her wardrobe to get her uniform. Once she had put it on she headed to the kitchen for breakfast. On the way there though the memory of her dream resurfaced.

Was it truly bad to for her, a girl, to have feelings for Minako, another girl? She went against God's law. Her brother's words still rang in her head, making her wrap her arms around herself. God made men and women, because that is the most ideal combination. Yes that was exactly what her brother said; the same brother who manipulated her into the duels, the same brother who ruined her egg, the same brother who immediately talked bad about her once she learned that they weren't related, the same brother that tried to -

Just thinking about all that he had done made her angry, causing her to immediately shove away all thoughts of him. Touga already ruined enough things for her, she wasn't going to allow Minako to become one of them. Besides he probably made up that whole "God made men and women because it's an ideal combination" thing. When she finally made it to the kitchen, she saw a newspaper with a large picture of a bride and groom on it being held up on the table. Nanami was surprised to see it, and then even more surprised when it was put down to reveal Rei holding a mug of coffee looking at her. "Oh good you're awake on time." she commented while Nanami sat down to her breakfast of toast and slices of strawberries made by her, pouting all the while. "Only because she threw my clock at me." she grumbled, bitterly eating her toast.

Once they finished their breakfast, both Rei and Nanami went out of the shrine and started walking to school. Rei was talking about something along the way but Nanami didn't listen to her, instead she just looked around at her surroundings. She saw a giant billboard depicting a man embracing a woman in his arms, posters of men and women together dancing plastered all over the street shops, benches with advertisements showing a man and a woman almost kissing. Rei then stopped her with her arm. "Hold on a minute." Confused by that, Nanami then noticed that they were at a crosswalk, the streetlight for pedestrians showing a bright red hand. Soon a bus drove past them, a man holding a woman to his chest on the side of it. Nanami stared solemnly at it as it went by and then turned her gaze to the ground.

"Ok, we can go now." said Rei. After crossing the road they continued walking to school until a piece of paper hit Nanami in the face. "What the hell!?" she screeched, grabbing the paper off of her face only to be stunned by the image it depicted. It was yet another man and woman, looking into each other's eyes lovingly while the man held an apple. "What - what is this for?" Nanami asked, scowling. "Hey! Hey!" Nanami looked up to see a man with running towards her and Rei, a loose stack of papers under his arm. "Hey," he panted, "do you - do you have one of these?" He held up the stack of papers, the first one on top having the same image as the flyer that hit Nanami. "Uh yes actually," she cautiously replied, handing the flyer to him. "Oh thanks, you're a lifesaver. My boss would've killed me if I didn't put these up." "I see. Um just what exactly are these for?" "Oh it's for a supermarket."… "What?" "Yeah, it's just down three blocks and business has been kinda slow lately, so my boss came up with the idea for these flyers and told me to put them up…"

The man kept talking, making Nanami become more and more irritated. Soon it all became too much and she snapped. "… and I really think the design is good, we got a professional to do that by the way, and -" "What kind Of Bullshit IS THIS!?" Nanami yelled, shocking both the man and Rei. "Nanami?" "Uh ma'am, are you alright -" The man was cut off, for Nanami had grabbed him by the shirt and was now violently shaking him back and forth. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT KIND OF STUPIDITY THIS IS!? I MEAN WHO WOULD LOOK AT A MAN AND A WOMAN TOGETHER AND THINK "oh wow this is making me hungry better go to A SUPERMARKET!"!? I MEAN THIS IS UNNECESSARY! REALLY UNNECESSARY! ABSOLUTELY UNNECESSARY! IN FACT IT'S DOWNRIGHT STUPID! ABSOLUTELY STUPID! IN FACT YOU'RE SO STUPID TO NOT THINK THAT THIS WAS STUPID IN THE FIRST PLACE! I MEAN SERIOUSLY WHAT THE -"

"NANAMI!"

That made Nanami stop shaking the man, who right now was weeping tears of relief, and turn towards Rei. Rei then grabbed her hands and pulled them off the man's shirt who then sank to his knees on the street. "I'm so sorry sir, please forgive my friend here." said Rei cheerily, leading both Nanami and herself away from the man. Once they were far away enough from him, Rei's cheery demeanour immediately melted away. "Just what the hell was that about!?" she demanded, making Nanami look down in shame. "Uh…" "Well?" "Uh…" "Well!?" "Uh…" "WELL -" "Mama, Mama look!"

Both girls were shaken out of their attempted "conversation" and turned to the direction of the voice they just heard to find a kindergartner walking with her mother to school across the road pointing at them. "Look Mama, those girls are holding hands." the child pointed out, making Rei and Nanami realize that she was still holding her hand from when she pulled it off the poor man she yelled at. "Ah you're right honey, they must be good friends." "Mm hmm."

Nanami and Rei blinked, immediately pulling their hands away from each other. Rei coughed into her fist. "Come on Nanami, let's go." Nanami did she was told and followed closely behind Rei. "Mama, Mama look at those people." Nanami turned around and saw that the child was referring to a man and woman in suits, office workers most likely, waking together opposite of them. "Oh yeah honey," the mother replied, and once the people had walked past them, she crouched down to her daughter and said, "they're probably in love." That comment irked Nanami, making her eye twitch. She gritted her teeth and ran right across the street to the woman and child.

"WHAT THE HELL KIND OF DOUBLE STANDARD IS THIS!?" Nanami demanded, scaring the woman. "Um what-" "WHAT INDEED! SO APPARENTLY YOU SEE TWO GIRLS HOLDING HANDS AND SAY "oh they're just friends" AND THEN YOU SEE A MAN AND A WOMAN WALKING TOGETHER AND JUST THAT AND SAY "oh they're probably in love."" "Uh -" "UH NOTHING! YOU'RE PRETTY MUCH TELLING YOUR KID HERE THAT LOVING A MAN IS THE WAY TO GO AND WELL THAT'S JUST WRONG! AND YOU," Nanami pointed at the child, frightening her as well. She got down on her knees and placed both hands on the child's shoulders. "Don't let anyone tell you that men and women are the ideal combination! Just always remember that girls can love girls too." "Girls can love girls?" "That's right kid, girls can love girls." "Girls can love girls?" "Girls can love girls." "Girls can love girls?" "Girls can love girls!" "Girls can love girls?" "Girls can love girls!" "Girls can love girls?" "GIRLS CAN LOVE -"

**BONK!**

"I am so sorry about my friend here ma'am," apologized Rei, bowing to the woman Nanami had just terrorized, "please forgive her for her actions, she just hasn't been feeling like herself lately." "Um yes." replied the woman, still a bit shaken. "Thank you for your sincerity. Come on Nanami, let's get to school now." said Rei, dragging a dazed Nanami with a bump the size of a tomato on her head by the sailor collar of her school uniform, much to the bewilderment of the woman and child. "Girls can love girls?"

Once they were away from the woman and child, and Nanami had regained consciousness, Rei finally got down to business. "Ok what the hell is with you today?" Nanami remained silent. "Well come out with it." Nanami looked around in every direction, trying her best to avoid Rei's gaze, but soon enough she couldn't do it. "Nanami just what -" "It's too much ok!" Nanami yelled out. "Too much? What exactly is too much?" "You know," said Nanami, gesturing to the window of the electronics store they were in front of, displaying TVs of every variety, all showing a man and woman passionately kissing. Rei saw her point, and then sighed and turned around. "You get used to it." she said, grabbing Nanami's attention.

"Get used to it?" repeated Nanami. What would Rei know about - she gasped when the realization hit her. "Rei-san, do you, do you swing that way?" Nanami asked. Rei turned her head towards her. "Somewhat yeah." she casually replied, shocking Nanami by being so calm about it. "Now hurry up, I don't wanna be late." With that, both girls immediately headed straight for school.

Nanami frowned the whole time, Rei's "you get used to it" still bothering her. Was it truly that hard to see women romantically together anywhere at all. Nanami sighed. "It really wouldn't hurt to show some girl on girl love." she muttered under her breath. Once she said that, a piece of paper flew right into her face. She growled, pulling it right off and swearing to God that this wouldn't repeat all day. Her aggravation however was short lived when she saw what was on it. On the piece of paper it was picture of two women holding each other's hand and about to kiss as well. Nanami's eyes widened, and soon enough tears of joy started to well up in them. Yes, here it was, absolute proof of girls loving girls, right here in her hands. Nanami was overjoyed with relief, but unfortunately her relief was short lived when she took a closer look at the image.

Both of the women were wearing leather leotards and fishnet stockings and in their free hands one of them held a whip and the other was holding - Nanami's eye twitched at the sight of it, and twitched even more when she saw the three x's at the bottom and which helped her realize that the paper was an advertisement for an adult store. Rei leaned her head to get a good look at the flyer, arching an eyebrow while Nanami was becoming increasingly aggravated. "Is this what you meant when you wanted to see some girl on girl love?" Rei asked, Nanami becoming even angrier. "This. Wasn't. What I meant. AT ALL!" she screeched, while also ripping the flyer in half.

Rei and Nanami soon enough made it to school, already past the entrance. "Seriously, it wouldn't kill anybody to show girls together like that." complained Nanami. "Really it's not gonna hurt anyone to see two girls -" Nanami wasn't able to finish that sentence, for she had lost her footing and was about to fall. "Nanami!" Nanami fell flat on her face - or would have if it weren't for her savior.

She blinked and turned around to see that it was the gorgeous nun she had met on her first day at T.A that had prevented her fall by grabbing her shoulders from behind. "Are you alright child?" she asked, making Nanami blush. "Y-yes." Nanami then turned away only to be shocked at what was in front of her. Apparently the reason she had lost her footing was because there was a giant crater in the stone walkway of the school. "What the he-eck is this?" she asked, censoring herself due to being in a sister's presence. "Oh don't worry too much about it child," the nun explained, "I heard the school board plans on fixing it." "Thank you sister," said Rei, walking up to them, "I think I'll take it from here."

Rei placed her hand on top of the nun's on Nanami's shoulder and upon doing so felt great surge of dark energy, her eyes widening from it. Rei looked at the nun, who in turn smiled at her, and pulled Nanami out of her grasp cautiously. "Well then I'll leave you two be." The sister then turned away from them, walking around the crater. "Wait a minute!" Rei blurted out, getting the nun's attention towards her. "Uh you know sister this is our second meeting with you and we still don't even know your name, do you mind telling us?" The nun blinked but soon enough she smiled. "Just call me Cereza." was her reply. She then left to attend to her business, the two girls watching her go. "Cereza," Nanami said dreamily, "such a pretty name." Rei only hmphed and squinted her eyes in Sister Cereza's direction. "She doesn't look like a Cereza to me."

* * *

Sakura stared at Rika through the door way. She seemed fine, reading a book and all, as if yesterday's events had never happened. Sakura then took a deep breath and walked inside. "Rika-chan," she said, getting said girl's attention, "are you ok?" Rika blinked but then smiled. "Oh if you're referring to yesterday then I'm absolutely fine." "Really?" "Yeah. Although I do feel bad about it though. I can only imagine how much of a shock it must've been for you to have found me passed out like that." "Huh?"

Sakura was confused, didn't Rika remember? "But -" "But what?" "Um nevermind." said Sakura, going to her seat with Tomoyo and Syaoran. "I take it she doesn't remember yesterday's events at all right?" asked Tomoyo while Sakura sat down, still staring at her friend. Syaoran glared towards Rika. "Whoever was behind that attack was really clever to make her forget about it." commented Syaoran. "By the way, do you have the cards with you?" Sakura nodded. "Good." Sakura still looked on at Rika in concern. Tomoyo and Syaoran noticed this and look towards each other and then nodded in agreement.

"Sakura," started Syaoran, placing his hand on his girlfriend's shoulder, "it'll be alright." Tomoyo did the same, only instead placed her hand on Sakura's. "If you want at lunch we could ask Rika-chan what she was doing before the attack?" Sakura looked between her lovers, placing one hand on Syaoran's and turning over the other one in Tomoyo's to hold it, and smiled. "Ok."

* * *

_Darkness._

_"Who are you?"_

_"I came to save you."_

_Child-like voices._

"_But you're a…_

"_I came here to meet you. So don't be afraid of this world where we'll meet."_

_Everything became brighter._

_She was looking into an abyss, now shining brighter thanks to the light._

_In the abyss she could see that purple blur from her first dream only clearer now._

_The blur appeared somewhat clearer than before._

_She was saying something but the words came out slurred and so she couldn't understand what she was saying._

"_Utena… sama…"_

_That came from the sweet blur._

"… _we finally …meet."_

"_Utena-sama! Utena-sama!"_

_She heard crumbling behind her, even felt it too._

_An earthquake?_

_She reached her hand out into the abyss, towards the blur._

_"…take my hand."_

_" You mustn't! Hurry and run away! The swords are…"_

"_Take my hand! Come on …"_

" _You mustn't! Hurry and run away! The swords are…_

"… _Hurry, take my hand!"_

"_I beg you."_

_" Hurry! Hurry up and take my hand!"_

_The blur had to hurry, she could feel her arm about to give out._

_The blur hesitated but soon she reached out._

_Reached out._

_Reached out._

_Reached out -_

_And grabbed her hand._

_She was happy, she could feel a smile stretch on her face._

_"Someday…someday, the two of us…"_

_She couldn't finish that sentence._

_She couldn't finish that sentence because the blur fell right out of her hands, into the darkness below._

_She hanged head low over the edge, watches as the blur and abyss fell down into the light._

_"I really… couldn't become a prince."_

_A prince?_

_Why would she -_

_There was a sound of metallic clinking behind._

_Sounded like it was becoming louder._

_"I'm sorry, …. Sorry for ending up just a make-believe Prince…"_

_The clinking grew louder._

_Louder._

_As if it was coming towards her._

_Wait, was it?_

_She rolled over stiffly, the clinking getting louder every second._

_Once she was completely turned over, she was -_

* * *

Utena's eyes immediately opened. She sat up in her bed, looking around in her room. This time she definitely was in her room. "Ah I better get up or else I'll be late for -" She cut herself off, remembering how Mercury had recommended to stay home from school today. She got out of bed and went towards the window and peered through the blinds. It was daylight outside, from the looks of it it appeared it to be noon. Noon. At this time right now in school she and Sakura would've been having lunch -

She was cut off by her stomach growling, making her blush. She then noticed the sounds of someone in the kitchen downstairs. She changed out of her pajamas, putting on a pair of pink overalls and an orange t-shirt that said USA in black, and headed downstairs. On the way down she heard voices. "- Oi little monster, don't put too much." "Ah come on, the more the better right? Also who ya callin' a monster!" "You. Sakura's the big monster and you're the little one." "Why I oughta break out my true form and see just who here is the monster!" "Now, now, don't fight you two. You might wake Tenjou-san up - Ah Tenjou-san, you're awake!"

In the kitchen was Toya, Yukito, and Kero, Toya at the stove stirring soup, Kero holding a shaker above it, and Yukito at the counter rolling up rice balls. "Um, hello?" said Utena tentatively. Toya looked at her and went back to stirring the soup. "How bout you sit down." suggested Yukito, abandoning the rice balls to lead her to the table, "Toya and I -" "Ahem!" "- and Kero…" "Thank you." "… are almost finished with lunch." "Uh yes." Pulling out a chair for her, Utena sat down in it while Yukito pushed it back in.

"Um by the way," she started, gaining the attention of everyone in the kitchen, "where's Professor Kinomoto?" "He went to work," replied Toya, done stirring the soup and now ladling into a bowl , "and asked us to stay here and keep an eye on you." "Oh ok." Utena was then handed a plate of three rice balls lying against each other with small bowl of soup next to them and then another plateful of such was placed right next to her, for Kero most likely. She raised the bowl to her mouth, lightly blowing on it first, and then took a sip, becoming enamored with the flavour. "Wow, this is really good Toya-san." she complimented while Kero flew around her to get to his plate. Toya merely hmphed in return.

Confused by his behavior, Utena leaned in towards Kero, who was currently slurping up the soup for him. "Um does Toya-san not like me?" she whispered, bringing Kero's head out of the bowl. "Nah he's fine," Kero explained, "it's just that he really has an uptight personality." "I'm not uptight," butted in Toya, grabbing some rice balls alongside his soup, "I'm just very cautious." "Pfft, sure cautious." "Yes cautious, as in doesn't practically drown a soup in pepper." "Oh well excuse me for adding a little flavor into that boiled water you called soup!" "Oi you trying to start something little monster? Cause I could just grab you and stuff you into washing machine just like that." "Bring it on tough guy! How bout I whip out my true form to make things more interesting?" "Alright then -" "Alright you two, that's enough," interrupted Yukito, sitting opposite Utena and Kero with Toya. "Let's just relax and eat in peace."

Kero and Toya glared at each other and huffed, immediately digging into their meals. Halfway into finishing her soup, Utena noticed that Kero finished his already and was now stuffing a complete rice ball into his mouth. Utena giggled at the sight, getting that same sense of deja vu again. "You know Kero," she said, the beast of the seal having now swallowed the entire rice ball looking at her, "I never told you before but you really remind me of someone." "Really?" "Yeah." Toya and Yukito stopped eating, curious as to what Utena was talking about. "Mizuno-san herself also reminds me of someone, but I'm also not sure who." "Really? Didja tell her about that?" Utena shook her head. "No, I didn't think it was important, but since regaining some of my memories I've given more thought to whenever I felt that way about someone. Maybe I should do the same with Hanato." "Hanato? Who's that?" "Oh didn't Sakura tell you about her? She's the school's new guidance counselor and we met her when I first came here. Although the type of remembering feeling I get around her is way different than the kind I get around you and Mizuno-san." "Really, how come?" "Well around you guys I feel, well, nice I guess, but around her it's more intense and…" "And what?" "I don't know it's kind of hard to describe, like I feel bad around her, like I did something bad to her and feel guilty about it I don't know."

Utena looked into her soup, frustrated, and Kero saw so. "Ah Utena, if you want after you're done eating how bout we head upstairs to Sakura's room and play some video games?" offered Kero, trying to cheer her up. "Will Sakura be ok with that?" "Sure! I do it all time when she's at school." "Well ok." With that everyone return to their meal, and once Utena and Kero were done, they headed upstairs to do such, leaving Yukito and Toya alone. "So Tenjou-san apparently feels guilty around this Hanato person?" asked Yukito, once he was sure that Kero and Utena were out of earshot. "Appears so." replied Toya. "Must have something to do with her memories right? Like Hanato reminds her of someone?" "Or is that someone." Toya said as he stood up, gathering up the plates. "You mean Tenjou-san might've have already known her? But she would've mentioned that if she did know her, right?" Toya said nothing, putting all the dishes in the sink to clean.

* * *

Nanami looked out the window , the clouds appearing a bit dark. Right now she was in literature class and the assignment was for students to come together and talk about what has to be the best classic literature. All around her were girls talking (even arguing) what was such. She turned around and was face to face with the solid color front of a hard bound book. "It's the greatest love story ever don't you think?" asked the girl who was holding the book to her face. Greatest love story ever? "Um, what is?" asked Nanami, unaware of what she was talking about. The girl smiled. "Oh you know the tale as old as time itself. Two people who fall in love and are forbidden to do so because of society." That interested Nanami, her hopes rising up. "Yeah." "So you agree that Romeo and Juliet is the greatest love story ever!?"

And like that Nanami's hopes were shattered. "Oh that's what you were talking about." She never really quite enjoyed that story since it was all about a man who took advantage of a young girl's naivete to use her body and had gotten other people to die along with them because of such. "It's not so great." she responded. "What why not?" "Isn't it obvious?"

A new voice. Nanami turned around to see another girl, hands on her hips and a stern look on her face. "What is?" asked the Romeo and Juliet fanatic. "That isn't greatest love story ever." Nanami felt her hopes rise up again, finally someone else who was sick of - "Now Anthony and Cleopatra, that's the greatest love story ever."

Nanami, much like her hopes, sank into her chair, the two girls standing and arguing which was the better love story.

* * *

Lunch time came about, but Nanami herself wasn't hungry. In fact she even avoided Rei's fan girls due to be smothered by heterosexuality all day. She walked along side a stone wall then stopped to stand against it and sigh. After that incident with the girls arguing which straight disaster of literature was a better love story, Nanami would hear girls in all her classes talk non-stop about boys and even in math she couldn't escape it due to the questions being about girls getting gifts for their boyfriends and how much of it. Nanami sighed once more. Could this day get any worse?

Once she thought that, she heard a type of whirring sound that ended in a crash. "Do you know, do you know, do you know why it is?" Right next to Nanami appeared two feminine looking silhouettes, one with curled hair with a bow on top and another with round braids and two curls atop her head. Fantastic. "Beep boop beep, I am a robot, I catch kitties." said the braided silhouette, known as B-ko, who's appearance now looked like a robot. "No you can't!" scolded the silhouette with a bow, A-ko. "Robots are supposed to catch monkeys not kitties!" "Beep boop beep, I want to catch kitties not monkeys." "Well you can't, everyone knows robots are to catch monkeys." "Boop boop beep, and where does it say that?" "It's not exactly a written rule buts it's common knowledge." "Boop beep boop, I do not need this I'm going to catch kitties."

B-ko bot moved away as if on a wheels and then came back to A-ko, whose silhouette was now wearing a hat and shorts with a bag. "Yo yo yo, read all about these famous monkey catching robots!" said A-ko, waving the silhouette of a book around. "Beep boop boop, are there any kitty catching robots?" "Ah no, not at all." "Beep boop, then no." B-ko bot left and returned to A-ko who was now in a silhouette shaped like a ticket booth. "You there, care to see a movie?" "Beep boop, ok what do you have?" "We have Monkey Catching Robots, Monkey Catching Robots 2, and Monkey Catching Robots 3: The Monkey Catching." "Uh beep boop, anything with kitty catching robots?" "Nope, after all what's so appealing about robots catching kitties?" "Ok, beep boop." B-ko bot, looking a bit defeated, then left and returned to A-ko, who was sitting on a silhouette chair at a silhouette table reading a silhouette newspaper. "Oh look at how many robots are catching monkeys." she commented, causing the B-ko bot to emit steam from the sides of her head in frustration. "Boop boop, that's enough! I guess I can't be a robot that catches cute kitties, boop boop, I guess I have to catch stinky monkeys for the rest of my life beep boop." A silhouette of a monkey then appeared. "Ooh ooh, hey baby why don't you catch me?" B-ko bot caught it by limply ejecting a net over it. "Boop beep boop, I hate monkeys, why can't I catch kitties instead?" asked B-ko bot, dejectedly dragging the monkey in the net. Once she was out if sight, she came back out into the open with A-ko, back to their original silhouettes minus the puffy sleeves. "Do you know, do you know, do you know why not?" they asked in unison.

Silence.

"When did you two transfer here?" asked Nanami, not even looking at them. A-ko and B-ko immediately drooped their upper halves in defeat. "We've been here since the first day of school." "So mean." Nanami paid no heed. Just then something wet landed on her nose. Water? Was it raining? KA-BOOM! In a rumble of thunder, the rain went from one singular droplet to a great pour. "Ah we should go now." said A-ko, pulling out an umbrella. "Yep we should." agreed B-ko, going under the umbrella and walking with her.

Nanami shielded herself from the rain with her bento box, everyone around her scurrying off to find someplace dry. Nanami ran around until finally she found a church on the school grounds. She went straight inside, water droplets dripping from her. It was completely empty, would've been dark too if it weren't for the candles lit in prayer. She walked towards the rows of pews. "H-hello?" she stuttered out. "I'm just staying in here until it stops raining, ok." No response. She was truly alone in here.

Or was until she heard fabric fluttering. She turned towards where it came from and saw a confession booth. Thinking all about that had happened today, Nanami took it as a sign to confess. She walked towards the booth and stepped inside, pulling the curtain shut. She sat down and looked all around inside; it was small, as to be expected, built from a rich type of wood, and had a seat cushion. Nanami turned to the right and saw in the wall a small window covered in criss crossing iron in front of a curtain from which she could make out a silhouette of some sort. "Um excuse me?" Nanami asked shyly. She then heard a popping sound of some sort. "Yes?" came a reply, sounding somewhat feminine and also familiar, but nonetheless confused Nanami. "Um I'm sorry but don't priests usually do confessions?" "Women can be priests." Nanami blushed in embarrassment when told that. "Oh I'm sorry, I'm not very religiously active." "It's alright child, now continue what you were originally doing." "Oh uh right."

Nanami looked down wistfully at her hands, wringing them. "Well um I believe I might've sinned." she started, still looking down. "Might've sinned?" "Or I probably already have. You see I think I developed a sort of problem." "Problem? Do go on." "Well, uh, ever since I left my old school, I've been noticing…" "Noticing..?" Nanami was full on blushing right now, her face looking redder than a rose, but yet was able to blurt out "Girls!". She then hid her face in her hands, grateful for the wall separating her and the priestess. She heard another popping sound. "Girls? Oh I see." spoke the priestess, an odd coy tone added to her voice. Nanami nodded despite the fact the priestess probably wouldn't notice.

"Y-y-yes, girls." she stuttered out. "I've been noticing them a lot lately and recently there's this one girl that I've really noticed." Nanami blushed, a small smile appearing on her face while thinking of Minako. "And your problem?" the priestess queried, causing Nanami's smile to dissipate once she remembered the problem she came here for. "Well you see someone," she didn't bother to say who he was, "told me once about God's law." Another popping sound. "God's law?" "Yes, he - I mean, they, told me that God made men and women because it's an ideal combination and that it would bad to go against that. So what I would like to know is if it's really wrong for me, a girl, to like other girls that way?" There was silence, Nanami waited for an answer until she heard a pop. "I see," the priestess answered, "now tell me child, does this person work for the Lord?"

Nanami blinked in confusion but nonetheless answered the question. "Uh, no actually -" "Have you followed orders from this person before? And if so, just how did that turn out for you?" Nanami pondered that, remembering when Touga had made her and her lackeys go to India to get another batch of that body switching curry powder while forbidding her to return home until she did so in which she had gotten repeatedly chased by elephants and when he had gotten her into the duels, her hands balling up into fists all the while. "Yes, and not very well." she answered, rage starting to boil within her. "I see, and has this person ever shown any real concern for you?" Nanami pondered that too, thinking about how dismissive he was when someone (later in revealed to be Tsuwabuki) was trying get her, how he had never thanked her once for taking care of the student council in his absence, how he badmouthed her to one of her former lackeys when she learned he was adopted, and when in the chairman's car -

She stomped her foot in absolute fury. "Never!" she said, anger in her voice. "Mm hmm, now tell me child, did this person tell you anything else similar to this "God's law" nonsense?" That did it for Nanami. All of her rage welled up and overflowed as she remembered what Touga had said after he spouted that utter bullshit that was God's law -

It's because you're not the kind of girl who lays eggs. Who I feel sorry for is the family that such a girl betrays. You did the right thing, Nanami. You did the right thing.

Nanami immediately stood up, enraged. "YES HE DID! AND HE RUINED IT! HE RUINS EVERYTHING!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, banging the wall in front of her in the confessional. "Calm down child." advised the priestess, Nanami calming down immediately. "Oh I'm sorry, um, Mother." she apologized, sitting back down on the bench. "Now do you see? Your problem isn't liking girls, your problem is listening to ass hats that tell you that it's wrong to like girls." Nanami was surprised to hear such language from someone who worked for the Lord. "So I'm ok? I haven't sinned?" "Yes child, you are absolutely fine, just one thing though." Nanami was confused, but still she listened. "Um what?" "If you ever see that bastard who made up that God's law nonsense again, please do me a favor and beat the damn hell out of them." Although perplexed, Nanami nodded in delight. "Yes I will, thank you Mother." With that, Nanami left the confessional, and through the stained glass windows of the church she saw that it was no longer raining and so headed outside, overjoyed and gay.

Meanwhile, Sister Cereza, otherwise known as Bayonetta, slid away the confession booth's curtain to watch the young girl, now secure with her sexuality, go outside. She hadn't initially plan to offer advice to anyone, only coming inside the church to avoid the rain and entering the booth to take advantage of the softer-than-pews seating to enjoy a lollipop, but apparently fate had other plans for her. "Fantastic job by the way." said a voice. She turned her head to see Ms. Romee, Jeanne really, lightly applauding her. "I never took you for the counseling type." Bayonetta smiled.

"Oh it's nothing really," she bragged nonchalantly, "just helping some young women here and there, nothing to make a big fuss about." Jeanne walked over to her, a coquettish grin spreading across her features. "I see." she agreed, cupping her face, stroking her cheek with her thumb as she leaned into her touch. Bayonetta only knew what that meant, and smiled as she knew what it would entail. "Why Jeanne, you're not really suggesting that are you?" she jested in a mock scandalized tone. "So?" she asked, wrapping one arm around her neck and using the hand that was caressing her face to bring it closer to her's. "Oh because you know…" "No, tell me." "Why doing that in the Lord's house, that's so naughty of you Jeanne. Besides you've already had your fill of it earlier, you're just being greedy now." "Oh don't act like you don't like it." Bayonetta smiled, allowing Jeanne to kiss her and push her inside the confession booth, sliding the curtain shut. "Alright."

* * *

Nanami shielded her eyes from the sunlight as she stared up at the sky. It was all blue with a few clouds here and there, the only proof that it had rained at all being the rainbow that arched between two buildings. Nanami smiled at that. "Oi, Nanami!" She looked down the church steps to see Rei going up from the bottom. "I've been looking all over for you." she said, finally getting near Nanami. "Just where have you been?" Nanami lowered her eyes, still riding the waves of absolute happiness. "Ah, Rei-san," she replied, lying her head and a hand on Rei's shoulders, "let's eat lunch together." Rei's face scrunched up at that, confused by Nanami's change in behavior, but relented anyway.

They sat at a bench near one the school's gardens, having now opened up their bentos and started eating them. Nanami was just spooning rice into her mouth until -

_"Nanami."_

_She looked up from her lunch and saw stepping out from behind the gazebo, was none other than Minako herself. She gasped at the sight, running up to her. "Minako-san, what are you doing here?" she asked, shades of pink lightly dusting her cheeks. "You don't go to this school." Minako only smiled at her. "Because," she said, raising a hand to Nanami's cheek, making her blush even more, " I came to see you." Nanami's eyes widened at that. "B-but you'll get in trouble if you get caught here," she warned, "You're breaking a lot of rules you know." Minako smile widened. "It's alright," she replied, leaning towards Nanami's ear, "love knows no laws after all." Nanami felt her heart flutter at that. "Besides it's lunchtime and I'm starving." "Y-yes."_

_They sat down at the bench, Rei somehow having disappeared. "Here Minako-san," she offered, holding up a pair of chopsticks that held an octopus wiener towards her, "have some." Minako opened her mouth with an "ah", eating up the delicacy. "Here Minako-san, have another." Nanami offered again with Minako eating it as well. "Here Minako-san!" "Ah!" "Here Minako-san!" "Ah!" "Here Minako-san!" "Ah!" "Here- Minako-san?"_

_Minako grabbed Nanami's wrist that was about to feed her another octopus wiener. "I'm staring to get bored of octopus wieners," she explained, "I'm starting to crave something else." Nanami blushed, bringing her bento up front. "Oh really," Nanami asked, holding her bento box up to her, "what else do you crave?" Minako only lowered the bento box, leaning in towards Nanami's face, licking her lips. "I crave," she whispered huskily, her lips near Nanami's, "you."_

**"Nanami!"**

Nanami opened her eyes, her lips pursed as if to receive a kiss. "Just what the hell are you doing?" Rei asked, staring at her roommate in confusion, concern, and from being weirded out. Nanami blinked and immediately laughed afterwards, rubbing the back of her head. "Ohohohoho, it's nothing Rei-san, nothing to worry about, ohohohoho." Nanami then went back to eating, now shoveling up bigger bites than before while Rei still stared on. "Uh yeah sure."

* * *

It was science class, Nanami was reading a passage from the text book out of boredom while everyone else was just buzzing about with chatter until the teacher clapped her hands together. "Attention students," she ordered, _"please welcome our new student Minako Aino!" As soon as she said that Minako slid right into the room, wearing a T.A uniform. "Minako-san!" chirped Nanami, clashing her hands in delight. Minako went to her desk and held her hands in her own. "Nanami," she said, staring at her and only her, "I couldn't bear being away from you for so long, so I transferred here." "Minako-san." Minako then leaned towards her face, her lips just about to meet her own-_

**"KIRYUU-SAN!"**

Nanami opened her eyes, her lips pursed up in the same manner as before with everyone around her snickering and soon enough full blown laughing. She looked down, a blush spreading across her face in embarrassment.

* * *

"Catch!" Nanami hit the ball back. It was gym class, and they were playing volleyball. Nanami hit back another ball and then -

_"Nanami!"_

_Minako threw the ball to her over the net. Nanami caught it just in time and to her surprise learned that it wasn't a ball at all but instead a bouquet of flowers. "Minako-san!" she squealed, said girl currently walking over to her._

_Outside church bells rang while doves flew about. Organ pipes sounded out, playing the wedding march while T.A students threw rice all about. Just then the building's double doors opened, revealing Nanami, dressed in the most gorgeous wedding dress imaginable, being carried bridal style by Minako, who was pulling off a tuxedo so well that it put Tuxedo Mask to shame. "Nanami, now we can be together forever." "Minako-san." Nanami lifted her lips, hoping to meet Minako's, _and got hit in the face by a volleyball. She fell on the floor, ball still on her face, while the other girls gathered around her.

* * *

Nanami opened her eyes. She was in a bed, surrounded by curtains. She sat up trying to figure out where she was. "Where am I_?" "Oh good, you're awake." She turned around and saw a shapely silhouette through the curtain. "Who are you?" Nanami asked, still dazed from the volleyball. She heard a chuckle from the silhouette. "Oh don't tell me," teased the voice from the silhouette, turning around towards her from what she could tell, "that you've already forgotten about me." The curtain was pulled away, revealing behind it to be Minako, in a nurse's outfit no less. "Minako-san!" Minako went towards her, crawling on top of the bed, every move she made sultry as can be. "Now Nanami, be a good girl," she said, her face only a couple of inches apart from her, "and I promise I'll take really good care of you." She stroked her leg through the blanket as she said that. "Minako-san." Nanami said, pursing her lips to receive _a thermometer in her mouth and a hand placed against her forehead.

She blinked, taking notice that she was in a nurse's office with Rei and a nurse (that was unfortunately not Minako). "Her temperature is high," said the nurse, having removed her hand and the thermometer from Nanami, "but not high enough to be a fever." "Are you sure it's not something?" Rei asked, concerned. "From what other students told me she's been in and out of it all day." "Well for now she's fine, but do check up on her regularly in case any more of this behavior acts up." Rei nodded. "Come on Nanami, let's go home." "Oh uh yes." replied Nanami, getting off the bed.

* * *

Rei and Nanami walked home, Rei complaining about Nanami losing focus since lunch while Nanami dreamed about seeing Minako again at Fruits Parlor Crown - until they walked past it. Nanami stopped walking while Rei continued on ahead, stopping once she realized Nanami was no longer following her. "Is there are problem, Nanami?" she asked, annoyed as hell. "Um Rei-san you do realize we walked past Crown, right?" Nanami answered, both confused and eager to see Minako. "I'm aware of such." Rei plainly answered, making Nanami feel nervous. "Well uh if you are aware of such then shouldn't we, well you know, go inside?" "No."

"What?"

"We're not going to Fruits Parlor Crown today." Nanami remained silent till speaking again. "Why not?" "Because you and Kyoko have to help me out at the shrine today."

Silence.

"W-W-W-W-WHAT!?" shrieked Nanami. "You and are helping me with the shrine today, I told you that in the morning remember?" Nanami was devastated, why she could see any chances of her being with Minako slipping away (in fact she literally could, imagining Minako (as a mermaid, seashell bikini and all) being washed away by a great wave). "B-b-but I can't go to the shrine today!" exclaimed Nanami. "Yes, you do." said Rei, having seemingly pulled a calendar out of nowhere and pointing at a day that was circled in red that said "Nanami Kyoko WORK". Nanami still balked, taking a few small steps away from Rei. "But Crown-" "We'll go tomorrow." Nanami was getting antsy, if she wasn't going to see Minako at all then what was the point. She took a deep, deciding she had no choice but to break out the big guns.

"But," she sniffed, tears welling up in her eyes, "I DON'T WANNA GO!" She then turned around and jumped on a street lamp, wrapping her arms and legs tightly around it while still crying. Rei took a step backwards from embarrassment, people all around her staring in her and Nanami's direction. She then gritted her teeth and glared at Nanami, refusing to go down so easily; after all she had Usagi. "Nanami!" she screeched, trying to pull the girl off the lamp while people around them still stared. "Nanami you are going to help at the shrine!" "No! I don't want to!" "Nanami one way or another you are going to help me out at the shrine whether you like it or not!" "No! No! No!" Rei still pulled on her, only stopping to wave off two people politely that had walked past them and just stood there looking at them for too long claiming that there was no problem and for them to just go on and scadaddle.

"Alright, you asked for this!" warned Rei when Nanami still wouldn't budge. She put her hand over stomach and using her senshi powers heated the temperature in said hand. Nanami felt Rei's hand become warmer and warmer until soon enough became scalding hot. "Ow!" howled Nanami, jumping off the lamp giving Rei the advantage to grab her collar while she was still in thin air. "Come on let's go." said Rei, dragging Nanami while she dumbfounded.

On the way to the shrine, people stared at the sight of one girl casually dragging another girl who was frantically waving her arms and kicking up her legs. "We have to go to Parlor Crown!" whined Nanami. "You're friends are gonna be there right?" "No they're coming to the shrine today." Nanami stopped fussing. "What?" "I told them I was going to be at the shrine today so they're coming to the shrine too." Nanami stood up, getting behind Rei placing her hands on her shoulder. "So Minako-san would be there too?" she asked, hoping for a yes. "Well she is one of my friends, so yes." Nanami overflowed with joy when she said that. "So what are we waiting for? Lets go!" Nanami grabbed Rei's hand and pulled her along to the shrine. This is perfect, Nanami thought to herself, not only will Minako-san be there, but I could use the allure of the shrine maiden to bring out my natural good looks to seduce her! It's brilliant!

Rei, having decided to just accept her roommate's random mood swings, allowed it only to be confused once more when they suddenly stopped. "What now?" Rei asked, taking notice that they were in front of a shop of some sorts. "Um Rei-san," said Nanami, staring at the shop's window, "can I do something really quick before we go to the shrine?"

* * *

"And done!" finished Nanami, once she finished swiping on her lipstick. "Didn't you say you were going to do this to bring out your "natural" good looks?" Kyoko dryly quired, recalling how after she and Rei had finished their argument about Kyoko working, in which Rei came out the victor, she overheard Nanami sputtering on about Minako and natural good looks while trying to put on the robes before asking Rei for help. "There's nothing wrong with accentuating the basics." retorted Nanami, refusing to allow Kyoko to ruin her good mood. "And now for the last touch." Nanami reached into the plastic bag, pulling out the packaged ribbon she had bought at the store earlier. After pulling it out from its packaging, she used the ribbon to tie her hair into a low ponytail save for some strands in front of her ears. She grabbed a hand mirror, marveling at how the magenta bow brought out her natural features.

Just then the for slid open, Rei dipping her head inside the room. "They're here now." she announced, making Nanami squeal in delight. She could already imagine it now: _She flipped her lower body through the window, sitting on the sill with one hand on her hip and the other behind her head while both her legs were hanging outside, her eyes closed all the while. Minako gasped at the sight. "Nanami," she spoked, "I never truly realized how gorgeous you were!" She then got down on one knee, holding Nanami's hand. "Nanami would you please be mine?" Nanami giggled. "Oh Minako-san, _of course I will!" said Nanami, still laughing while Kyoko only stared at her in disdain. "You need professional help." she stated, putting a stick of pocky in her mouth.

"Not now Kyoko, I've got a date, or will have one." Nanami giggled, and as soon as she heard footsteps come closer she flipped her lower body through the window and sat down on the sill as she envisioned, closed eyes and all. "Oh hey Nanami, wow you really look good as a shrine maiden." complemented one voice, belonging to Mako. She then heard some rapid tapping sounds. "Oh you're right Mako-chan, she really does look good." agreed another voice, Ami definitely. Nanami nodded at their complements still waiting for her to say something. Soon it was taking too long for her liking, so Nanami opened up one of her eyes to see Ami busily typing on a small blue computer, a white cat with a crescent moon on it's head much like Luna's, and Mako holding the hand of a little girl with long white hair (Chibi Moon perhaps). Yet, as she darted her only open eye around the area, no sign of Minako. Infact now that she thought about it, Buns and Drills weren't around either, but that wasn't important enough for her. "Um, where's Minako-san?" she asked. "Oh she, Usagi, and Tomoe-san went to Mitakihara to help out Tomoe-san's proteges." answered the white cat.

Silence.

**"WHAT!?"**


	5. Chapter 5

"Mitakihara! Mitakihara! Mitakihara!" sang Usagi, kicking her legs up and down. Right now she, Minako, and Mami were sitting in a train headed straight towards Mitakihara itself. Last night Madoka, one of Mami's proteges, had called her mentor and asked her to come the next day and help out with hunting wraiths. Mami obliged and at school the next day had offered her friends to come and help out as well minus Mako who had to stay behind with Nagisa. "Now, now Usagi-chan," chided Minako, "you better save up your energy for the wraiths." "Oh alright Minako-chan." "You know I still can't thank you two enough for helping out." admitted Mami. "Oh it's no big deal Mami-chan."

"Yeah plus we could use this as an opportunity to use Crescent Finale again." Mami smiled, remembering the joint attack she and Minako created when they first met. "Well it's a big deal for me, according to Kaname-san a lot of Puellas have moved into the territory since I left and wraiths have been hard to find because of it." Mami sighed, looking down at the floor. While Kyoko had moved to be able to have a steady roof over her head, she herself only moved so she could get a new start and also have a roommate who she could get along with in and relate to each other about mature things that Nagisa was too young to understand.

Minako and Usagi saw guilt welling up in her and so Minako placed her hand on her shoulder. "Mami you didn't anything wrong here," she comforted, Usagi behind her nodding in agreement, "I'm sure more Puellas would've moved in regardless you still lived there or not." Mami smiled weakly, but before she could say anything her phone rang. "Hello, this is Mami Tomoe speaking." she answered. "Mami-san! Mami-san! You've gotta come, quickly!" begged the voice on the other end frantically. "Miki-san? Are you alright? What's going on?" she asked, worried about her junior. "You gotta get here fast! We're in serious trouble! Madoka and I finally found a wraith and defeated it but now a couple of Puellas are fighting us for our grief cubes! Mami-san please you have to come fast - MADOKA LOOK OUT! MAMI-SAN PLEASE HURRY, HURRY -" Sayaka's end went off, leaving Mami, Minako, and Usagi horrified. "Oh no," Mami breathed out, "we have to get off the train and get to them now! Aino-san could you and Tsukino-san teleport us out of here!?" Minako shook her head. "We can't," she explained, "to do that we need to transform and right now there are other people here." Mami was devastated, but she understood. While the train car they were in was carrying a few other passengers, they couldn't just transform out in the open in front of them. "The only thing we can do know is wait for the train to stop and pray that we get there in time." Mami was still terrified, but she swallowed thickly to calm down a bit. "Ok." God she wished this train could go faster.

* * *

"I'm home!" exclaimed Sakura, slipping her loafers off. She stepped into her house and found her brother and Yukito in the kitchen washing dishes. "Oh you're here." she commented. "Yeah Dad asked us to keep an eye on Tenjou while he was at work." "Ok, and speaking of Utena-chan, where is she?" "Oh she and Keroberos went up to your room." answered Yukito. "My room?" Sakura was confused, and so went up to her room to see why and as she cracked the door opened she smiled as she learned the reason why. "Haha, I win again!" "Well yeah because you have more experience in this." Utena and Kero were in front of her TV having just finished a video game, a racing one from what she could tell, and while Utena was sitting legs crossed on the floor Kero was floating in mid air pumping his fists up in victory. "You two certainly look like you had fun." said Sakura, making the two of them turn towards her. "Oh Sakura, you're home already?" asked Kero. "Yeah me and Tomoyo both went home to change to take Utena shopping." "Oh alright, we'll leave you to change." With that both Kero and Utena left the room, door being closed and waited out in the hall.

"So you're gonna get a new uniform, huh?" Kero questioned, nudging his elbow lightly into her neck as he sat on her shoulder. "Pretty much yeah." "Well maybe you can use this as an opportunity to get one that doesn't make you feel weird." Utena eyes widened and she turned away from the small beast blushing, embarrassed that he still remembered that. "Y- you still remember that?" she asked, still not looking at him. "Well yeah, how can I not?" "It's not really a big deal you know." "It is if it makes you uncomfortable." Utena blinked, looking towards Kero again in surprise. "Really?" "Yeah, if you're gonna wear or even do something it should at least should be right for you, right?" Utena felt a vague pang of guilt, placing her hand on her heart. She didn't understand why she felt this way, but maybe it had something to do with her memories. "Yeah, you're right."

"I'm ready." exclaimed Sakura as she opened the door, donning a more casual outfit. "Oh good." responded Utena, following behind her and she went down the stairs. "We're going out." Sakura explained as she and Utena came across Toya and Yukito while heading to the front door. "Alright." "Be safe." "And get something for me too while you're at it!" Sakura smiled at Kero's request, and soon enough exited her home with Utena and headed towards the shopping district.

* * *

Utena and Sakura were standing outside the store, waiting for Tomoyo to arrive. Sakura checked her phone once more and immediately received a text from her saying she was almost there. "Don't worry Utena-chan, Tomoyo-chan's gonna be here any minute now." Sakura assured. Utena nodded her head and turned to look at the floor. She trailed her foot in a small circle and lowered her eyes. "Sakura," she started, "there's something I need to tell you." Sakura turned to her, curious as to what it could be. "What is it Utena-chan?" "Well it has to do with my memories." "Memories? Did you regain some more?" "No not quite really, you see it has to do with Kero, Mizuno-san, and," she gulped, "Hanato." "Really? But what do they have to do with your memories?" Utena looked down again. "Well I sorta get a sense of deja vu around them, like they remind me of other people." "They do?" "Yeah." "Did you tell anyone else about this?" "Only to Kero?" "Oh alright." "Although…" "Although what?" "When I'm around Kero and Mizuno-san, it feels nice around them, like people I was good friends with, but around Hanato …" "What about her?" "Well around her it's more intense and I feel really guilty." "Guilty? But how come?" Utena sighed, sliding down against the building to sit on the floor, knees to her chest. "I don't know."

Sakura could see how Utena was torn up inside about it, and so stooped down to get closer to her. "Utena-chan," she said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "thank you for telling me. I may not understand how your memories work or why you feel this way, but I'm happy you told me." Utena stared at her and smiled, placing her hand on her's. "Sakura…" "I'm here!" Both girls looked up to see Tomoyo, dressed as casually as they were. "Ah Tomoyo-chan," she responded getting up, Utena doing the same as well. "So shall we go inside now?" "Mm hmm." With that the three girls entered in.

Inside the store held a variety of uniforms, just about every color and style imaginable. Utena looked around, Kero's word of being comfortable echoing in her mind, as she trailed behind Sakura and Tomoyo till they made it to a rack that carried the Tomaeda Middle School uniforms for girls. Tomoyo grabbed one of them by the hanger, draping it against Utena. "This one looks nice on her." "Yeah it does." "Oh we should also get her the summer version." "Oh yeah definitely." Utena barely paid attention to what they were saying, but while they were talking and sifting through the rack, something caught her eye. "Hey Utena-chan is this your size - Utena-chan!"

Utena was walking away from them, going off in some direction. "Ah Tenjou-san!" "Wait for us!" Utena, having already had a first start, was about a good five feet away from them as she walked, hardly hearing them telling her to stop. She did however soon did so. "Utena-chan," said Sakura, Tomoyo right next to her, "where are you going." Utena turned to them and blinked, then sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Oh sorry," she apologized, "but I really wanted to see this." Sakura and Tomoyo tilted their heads in confusion but then turned to see what Utena was talking about. Behind her was table and on said table was a masculine torso mannequin wearing a white gakuran that was black in the middle with thin red lines on either side of it with black pockets and gold buttons in the center of folded versions of such. "A gakuran?" questioned Sakura. "I do have to admit it looks quite dashing," Tomoyo claimed, "pity that this isn't the boys' uniform for our school."

Utena, despite barely listening, agreed, and then grabbed one of the folded gakurans. "It does look nice." she admitted. She then lifted her head up and found another thing that grabbed her attention. "Hey what's that over there?" she asked, immediately dashing towards it leaving Tomoyo and Sakura bewildered and chasing behind her. "Utena-chan!" "Not again." When they managed to catch up to her again she was at another table similar to the one before, only the mannequin for this one was a feminine torso and leg stumps, displaying a gym uniform of a white shirt with black lines on the collar and hems of the sleeves and the bottom with a pair of white shorts that had wide black lines on the side. "A gym uniform?" "Oh my it looks so cute! I'm so jealous of the school that has this for P.E." Utena held one of the folded shorts. "It looks really nice," she said, then turned to the folded gakuran she still held in one arm, "and I think it would look even better with this." Once more Utena ran off, now in search of a dressing room, leaving Sakura and Tomoyo once again in shock in being left behind again. "Utena-chan!" "Tenjou-san please wait for us!"

Once they managed to catch up to her again, she had already slid the curtain of the dressing room closed. "Utena-chan." whined out Sakura, head down in defeat while Tomoyo patted her on the back. Soon enough they both heard the swish of the curtain being pulled away and when they looked up they became absolutely surprised at the sight. Utena had changed into the gakuran and shorts and was actually pulling it off quite well. Both Sakura and Tomoyo stared at the sight, blushing all the while. "So, what do you think?" Utena asked, turning around, moving her arms in legs in every way, trying to give the two angles to judge from. "Utena-chan…" "Tenjou-san…" "You look … so cool!" Utena was blushed, nervously scratching her cheek with one finger. "Really, you think so?" "Mm hmm." "You look absolutely lovely." "Yeah you look really handsome." "Almost like a prince." Utena's eyes widened at that. "A… prince?" Utena then felt a large thump in her head, immediately clutched it in pain as she backtracked into the dressing room wall, groaning in pain.

"Ah Tenjou-san!" "Utena-chan! Are you ok?" Sakura went inside, holding onto Utena's shoulder and arm. The pain then subsided, Utena opened her eyes to see Sakura in front of her. "Don't worry about it," she assured, still recovering from the aftershocks of it, "I'm sure it's nothing." "But Utena-chan the last time something like this happened to you…" Sakura looked down, regret and sadness welling up inside her as she remembered what happened after Utena dueled Rika. Utena saw this, looking down as well in shame for trying to lie to and also worry her friend. "I'm sorry Sakura," she started, looking up, "maybe it is something." Sakura looked up, a small smile spreading across her face. "It's alright Utena-chan."

"Aw how lovely." Utena and Sakura looked to Tomoyo, Sakura stiffening up in surprise and embarrassment as she saw that her girlfriend had had her phone out the entire time, recording them. "Tomoyo-chan! Didn't you stop doing this ages ago!?" "Ohoho, oh Sakura-chan you know very well that old habits don't go away that easily. Besides how could I pass on filming "Sakura Comforting Friend"?" "Tomoyo!" Utena looked at the two lovers, smiling and even chuckling at the sight, but soon enough she got serious and cleared her throat, getting both girls' attention. "So about the uniform…" "Oh right, we still have to get that. Utena-chan you can stay here and change back while Tomoyo-chan and I-" "Well actually I think I found what I needed."

Sakura blinked, confused at what her friend had just said. "What do you mean?" Utena rubbed the back of her head again, turning away from her friend's gaze. "Well I didn't tell you this before but my old uniform kinda made me feel weird." "Weird." "Yeah I felt uncomfortable the whole time wearing it but this," she gestured, referring to the ensemble she had created, "really feels nice for me. So do you think I could get this instead of the other uniform?" Utena sighed, knowing that she would be explained the school dress code and that it was mandatory for students to wear the uniforms meant for them- "Ok!" That had surprised Utena. "Wait really?" she asked. "Mm hm." "But isn't it against the school dress code or something?" "Well a little bit yes, but you're still wearing the school colors right?" "Well yeah I guess." "So you can still wear it, especially if it feels comfortable for you." "Plus it would be such a waste for such an outfit to go on unseen by the public. Ah with that Tenjou-san you could become even more popular with the girls at school." "Oh and speaking of we should probably get her some longer pants too for winter." "Oh good idea Sakura-chan. You always have to dress for the season." "Yeah and maybe we should even get a different winter jacket for Utena-chan too- Oh if you're alright with that Utena-chan." "Oh no, no, you don't have to do that I'm pretty fine with the school's jacket." "Oh alright." "You know the outfit itself is already good but I think a nice pair of black socks could make it even better!" "You're right Tomoyo-chan, it really would." "Plus we should also get her a hat." "A hat?" "Yeah I think a hat would go really great with it." "Are you sure you're not going overboard with the accessories Tomoyo-chan?" The girls continued talking, Tomoyo insisting that Utena get hat, while she smiled in delight at the sight.

Soon enough they were at the cash register, about to purchase the gakuran, shorts, pants for cold seasons, socks, and the hat Tomoyo recommended. The cashier looked down at the items and then up to the girls, one eyebrow raised in confusion, but nevertheless shrugged it off and payed it all off. The girls then exited the store, now holding bags carrying Utena's school wear, and walked down the street. "You know I'm starting to feel a little hungry." Utena admitted. "Yeah me too." "I'm feeling a bit peckish myself." "But we can't eat now; by the time we get home it'll already be dinner." "Aw come on Sakura, I'm not saying we should have an entire meal out here, just something small you know like a drink or snack." "Well I did promise Kero I'll bring back something for him." "That's the spirit!" The girls continued walking till they went into the nearest cafe, then were sat down by a waiter outside who also handed them menus. "Since I'm paying, you two can get whatever you want." Tomoyo offered. "Thanks Tomoyo-chan." "Thank you Daidouji-san." And while each girl had initially agreed to order a small drink and snack for themselves, Tomoyo decided that she and Sakura could split a strawberry milkshake. "Oh Tomoyo-chan that won't be necessary." Sakura said, blushing and waving her hand off. "Oh please Sakura-chan, can we? It'll be romantic." "Well alright."

Utena rested her head on her hand, finding the couple in front of her to be about as sweet as the milkshake they would share. "You know you two are a great couple," she commented, making the two girls turn towards each other while holding hands on the table and blush at each other, "just how did you two get together?" Their smiles widened at that while they still looked at each other lovingly. "Well it's a long story…" According to them they had first met in third grade when Tomoyo had forgotten her eraser and Sakura had offered her own (something she still kept to this day), they then had become friends and all the while Tomoyo fell in love in love with her but never dared to confess. Tomoyo had helped her all throughout the Cardcaptor business, even getting Sakura's then rival now boyfriend Syaoran to confess his feelings to her, and then about one year ago after about a few months Syaoran had gotten to live in Japan legally, Tomoyo's feeling grew too strong and she ended up confessing to Sakura who was already dating him at the time. Fearing she had ruined their friendship, Tomoyo constantly avoided Sakura and hardly came to school at all while Sakura on the other hand was trying to realize her feelings for Tomoyo till she realized she loved her back too. But then there was Syaoran who she also loved as much and she refused to give up either one of them until she gotten an idea. She had asked Chiharu to get Tomoyo to come up to the school roof on one of the days she came to school to find both Sakura and Syaoran there. Sakura then confessed back to her right then in there in front of Syaoran, who she had told about her feelings for Tomoyo and idea the day before, and gave Tomoyo a teddy bear and told her that she loved Syaoran just as much too and asked them both if they would both agree to being in a polyamourous relationship with her, in which they would each date her. "And of course Syaoran-kun and I agreed to it, knowing Sakura would be happy to be together with the two people she loved so much." "And in the end we all got to live happily ever after."

Utena stared dreamily at the two. "That is so beautiful." "We know, now let's get back to ordering. I'm gonna have a blueberry muffin, what are you having Sakura-chan?" "I think I'll have a croissant. Utena-chan?" "Well to drink I'm gonna have a pink lemonade and to eat I'll have…" Utena stopped talking, lowering her gaze. "Utena-chan, is something wrong?" She lifted her head up and smiled. "Oh don't worry Sakura I'm fine." Sakura still looked at her warily but soon viewed the menu again. Utena did the same as well with the only difference being how she was solemnly tracing her finger on the words listing one of the cafe's delights: shaved ice. Why was she feeling this way, especially about shaved ice of all things.

"Are you ladies ready to order?" the waiter asked, being answered by Sakura and Tomoyo nodding yes and listing what they wanted. "And as for you miss?" Utena was shook out of her thoughts from that and looked up from her menu. "I think I'll have pink lemonade and…" "And?" Utena sighed. "Shaved ice." "Wonderful. You know we serve our shaved ice in a variety of flavors, which one would you like?" Utena set clasped her hands together, resting her head on them. "I'll have grape."

* * *

"That cafe was really good." "I know. We should go there more often." Sakura and Tomoyo chatted on the way to Twin Bell, Utena silently walking besides them. While they had enjoyed their meal, Utena somberly ate spoonfuls of shaved ice. How could she feel so sad over it? It was only a cold dessert. She sighed, passing it off as having to do with her memories. "Alright we're here now." announced Sakura. Utena looked, seeing a door and a store window with a pair of bells with ribbons with the words "Twin Bell" written on top in capital letters. "Well let's go in." suggested Sakura.

They stepped inside, Utena looking around at all the toys the store had to offer. "Hello and welcome to Twin- Ah Sakura, Tomoyo, good to see you two." Utena turned to see a woman with long brown hair held back in a headband wearing a long high collared dress with an apron. "Hello Ms. Maki," greeted Sakura. Maki smiled then took notice of Utena. "Who's your new friend here?" "Oh this Utena Tenjou, she's living at my house for a while. Utena-chan, this is Ms. Maki, she owns Twin Bell." "Nice to meet you." greeted Utena, reaching her hand out to shake her's. "Nice to meet you too." greeted back Maki, shaking her hand as well. "Also forgive me if I sound too forward but I absolutely love your hair color." "Really?" Utena asked, brushing her fingers through it. "Yes, it's a lovely color. Is that natural?" "Um yes." "You know my assistant has pink hair too, although I think his might be lighter than yours." "Assistant?" asked Sakura. "Hm? Oh yeah I forgot to mention that I recently hired someone to help me out at the store. I should probably introduce you all to him. Oh Souji-kun do you mind coming out?"

There was silence. "Eh? Souji-kun?" Silence again. "I'm coming." replied a deep voice coming from the backroom. Footsteps were heard coming then soon stopped when a man with mid-length pink hair in a dark blue apron and glasses came out from there holding a box. "Yes." He plainly said. Utena looked at him, something in her mind vaguely going off. There was something weird about him. "Ah thank you Souji-kun," said Maki, taking the box from him, "these are some regular customers of mine, do you mind introducing yourself?" Souji blankly stared at all of them. "Alright," he answered, turning towards the girls, "I am Souji Hanato, it is nice to meet you." Hanato? "Hanato?" said Sakura, a realization immediately hitting her, "You're Hanato-san's fiance!?" Then man blankly stared again. "Yes." "Wow, you're a very lucky you know. Hanato-san is really beautiful." Souji only nodded. While Sakura was one sided enthusiastically conversing with Souji, Utena leaned towards Tomoyo. "We should get Sasaki-san's present now." "Oh of course."

They then dispersed and looked through all the store's contents, Sakura eventually joining the search once she was done talking to Souji. Utena looked through the shelves, trying to figure out which stuffed animal would make the perfect present for a girl that was brainwashed into trying to kill her that then passed out and forgot all about it. She kept searching until one stuffed animal in particular caught her eye. It was an elephant sewn together from a rich purple velvet fabric. She couldn't understand why but she was really drawn to it, the color especially. She reached her hand out, tentatively stroking the trunk. "Found something you like?" Utena jumped, then turned around to see Souji right behind her. "Oh you nearly scared the hell out of me." Utena admitted, placing her hand on her chest. Souji didn't respond. "Well I guess I'll just take this and go to Sakura and Daidouji-san." Utena said, the atmosphere around them starting to feel awkward. She grabbed the elephant, hurriedly walking towards her friends. There truly was something off about Souji, aside from being absolutely stone faced, that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Soon she was right behind Sakura and Tomoyo. "Look what I found," she announced, "do you think Sasaki-san would like-" She cut herself off, for when Sakura and Tomoyo turned around, Sakura was revealed to be holding a white plush sheep with closed eyes that had long eyelashes. "Oh Utena-chan, you found something too?" "Uh yeah, I can see you also found something." "Mm hmm." Silence ensued once more. "So which one should we get for Sasaki-san?" "Hm, maybe we should rock, paper, scissors for it." "Ok." And so they did, with Sakura winning by using rock against Utena's scissors. "Looks like Rika is getting the sheep." commented Tomoyo. "Yeah I guess she is." Utena said back, looking down at the elephant. She sorta felt sad that they weren't buying it, it was really cute after all. Sakura saw that Utena really liked the elephant and so placed her hand on her shoulder, making her raise her gaze towards her. "Utena-chan, if you want we can buy both." offered Sakura. Utena smiled. "Thank you."

Maki ringed them up with Sakura paying for both items. "Thank you, come back soon. "You're welcome." Utena carried the bags that held the plushes while Sakura and Tomoyo carried her things. Souji opened the door for them. "Ah thank you." said Sakura. Souji nodded then turned his eyes towards Utena. Utena felt uncomfortable at this, subtly hurrying outside the shop. And even now when they were a couple of blocks away from Twin Bell Souji still haunted Utena's thoughts. "Tomoyo-chan you haven't met Hanato-san at all right?" "No, I don't think so." "Well you have to see her soon, she's really gorgeous." "Really? Well remind me to do so at school tomorrow." "Alright. She's really lucky to be engaged to Souji." "I know right, he's really handsome, don't you agree Tenjou-san?" Utena wasn't listening. "Hm? Tenjou-san?" "Huh? Oh right yeah she really really is lucky." she quickly responded, smiling and laughing. Once Tomoyo looked away from her, her smile dissipated.

She turned her head in the direction of Twin Bell, thinking to herself: _Something is not right with that man._

* * *

Madoka's back hit the concrete wall, her body sliding down against it as she held a wound on her arm. "Just give it up already you little bitch!" "No!" Earlier that day after school she and Sayaka had gone hunting for wraiths, trying to get a head start for when Mami arrived. Their soul gems went off like alarms near a construction site in which there they found wraiths that they then immediately took care of. Once they finished them off and collected their grief cube, they were about to leave to find more only to be stopped when Madoka's cheek was mysteriously sliced by something. Soon it was then immediately revealed to be done so by a magical bullet shot from a long barrel revolver pistol shot by one of two Puella magical girls that were standing on top of the building structure. The two then jumped down from it and demanded that they hand it over to them to which they refused. Enraged, the duo attacked them, using both their weapons and hand to hand combat, the one with the pistol fighting Madoka and her friend fighting Sayaka. They were really getting best up by them and when Sayaka had the chance she jumped away from her attacker and on to the building structure to get her phone out and ask Mami to help only for her enemy to jump up and knock it out of her hands when she warned Madoka that her own assailant was about to shoot her from behind. And now here they were, Madoka slumped down against a wall covered in cuts in bruises with her aggressor standing right in front of her while Sayaka on her back, sword flat sidedly a few inches away from her neck as she tried to block her enemy's gauntlet covered punches.

"Look you decide how this will end; either you hand over your grief seed or my partner and I are going to end you and your friend here." the girl threatened. Madoka stiffened up, refusing to give up and let these girls win but yet was still able empathize with them. Judging from how half way dark the orange soul gem aglet securing the bolo tie on the Puella's cowgirl inspired costume was and only assuming similar for her friend, Madoka could understand that they were desperate but she also knew that she couldn't hand over their grief cube over to them. Unlike most magical girls, Puella Magi were- and truly meant to- fight alone. "Well what's it gonna be?" the cowgirl Puella demanded. Madoka started to get up, only halfway standing up. "I," she started, panting for breath, "won't hand over our grief cube to you and I won't let you hurt Sayaka-chan either." The girl tched. "I see," she said, glaring at Madoka, "so this is how it's gonna be then." She pulled a revolver from the aglet, aiming it directly at Madoka's forehead, who was much to weak to get out her bow or even fight back, then lowered it towards her soul gem. "Any last words?" she mockingly asked, her finger about to pull the trigger. Madoka looked on solemnly, then closed her eyes, praying it would be quick.

A gunshot resounded out the area.

Madoka opened her eyes to find that the girl's pistol was out of her hands and on the ground now and that the girl herself was now glaring upwards at something. Madoka turned towards where she was looking at and saw on top of the were three figures, one of which had wings and another one of them holding up a rifle. Madoka's eyes widened at the sight and she smiled in relief as she knew who which one of the figures were and then smiled more when she realized who the other two figures were. "How unforgivable," Mami commented, throwing away one musket and pulling another out from her hair pin already cocking it, "ganging up on my proteges like this." "I agree," said Eternal Sailor Venus, already having had gotten out her Love Whip, now stretching it, "it's really is bad." "It really is," agreed Eternal Sailor Moon, "it's an absolute crime to beat up sweet girls like these." Sailor Moon then glared down towards the Puella near Madoka, pointing at her. "You there," she ordered, "if you and your friend stop all this fighting and leave now my associates and I won't be so hard on you too." The girl grimaced, now pulling out two pistols from her soul gem. "Never." Usagi squinted at her. "So be it."

The Puella's partner jumped up behind them, about to smash them with her gauntlets that she had now resized to the size of trucks, only from them to jump off out of the way. They landed perfectly on the ground, backs to each other. "Sailor Moon and I'll help out Sayaka and take down the knight, you help Madoka and take down the cowgirl." commanded Venus. Mami nodded. "Good. Let's GO!" Venus ordered as they jumped away from the knight Puella with gauntlets who tried to crush them again. Mami, still up in the air, huddled up into a ball and popped right out with a ring of rifles in around her, rotating to aim right at the cowgirl Puella. She fired off each one by one, the Puella getting scraped by some of the bullets every now and then but still managed to dodge them. "Hm. A tricky one are we?"

Meanwhile Sailors Moon and Venus were fighting the knight Puella in the building structure. "Take THIS!" she screeched, her gauntlets doubling in size. She tried to smash the two only for them to jump out of the way again. Venus tsked. "So tactless." she chided, materializing a small, rotating golden heart in the palm of her hand. "Rolling Heart Vibration!" The heart went straight towards the girl, knocking her off the structure, causing her gauntlets to dissipate, and land flat on her back on the ground. Sailor Moon and Venus jumped down, walking towards her as she supported herself on her elbows.

"Naming your attacks and calling them out," she griped, starting to get up, "that's so lame." Sailor Moon hmphed. "That may be to you," she conceded, "but I personally think it adds a little charm." "Something you and your are in desperate need of." The Puella knight scowled at them and as soon as she got up she rematerialized her gauntlets and charged right towards them- only for her face to meet the bottom of their white boots. At the same time, Mami was currently in a shoot out with the cowgirl. Their gun shots stirred up a lot dust, nearly making it hard to see. Soon the Puella noticed that Mami had stopped shooting, and searched for her through the clouds of dust. "Where the hell did you go now!?" she demanded. "Tiro Duet!" She turned around and was instantaneously knocked back by beam of bright white light. "Good job Kaname-san." "Thank you."

Both girls were then tied up, the knight hog styled by Venus's Love Whip and the cowgirl with her knees to her chest and arms by Mami's ribbons. "You bitches!" the cowgirl seethed, "When we get out we're going to get each and everyone of you!" "How cute." mocked Venus, looking admiringly at her and Mami's handiwork. "We mean it! Just cause there's more of you than us it doesn't mean that we be beaten by you!" "Yeah! So what if you got the Sailor Senshi on your side? Those short skirted skanks won't help you out next time!" Venus's eye twitched. "Skanks!?" she yelled incredulously. "Yeah you heard me!" asserted the knight. "Why you little-" grumbled Venus, about to prepare a Crescent Beam only for Sailor Moon to place her arm in front of her. "Now Venus don't get too huffy," she chided, walking a couple of steps towards the Puella, "why don't you let me show them that you should never judge a girl by what she wears." She winked, Venus blinked in confusion at her but then crossed her arms and smirk when she realized what she meant. "Oh, alright," she approved, "go right on ahead."

Sailor Moon nodded then turned to the Puella. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, placing both of her hands on her chest. From there in the middle of it a bright light blossomed while simultaneously feathers, flower petals, and sparkles flew all about. She reached into the light with both hands, pulling out a white rod with gorgeously red pommel on the tip with a inch wide banded golden hilt on top of it. She continually pulled it till it ended with gold ball on top with smaller balls around it in between two bands. She twirled the rod around while she did the same and then stopped, kissing the tip of the rod and creating a small circle of bright light on it. She put her hand over it and then raised it, a glowing rod of light trailing behind it. The rod then ended and the light on it pinged off, making it solid rod much like the one in the beginning ending with a simple gold band on top. She twirled the rod- a staff now really- much like before, only now all the feathers, petals, and sparkles were swirling around it. They were then all vacuumed towards the tip, materializing bit by bit a shorter rod also ending in a gold band that then continued on past that, becoming wider and getting decorated in two gold stars which then created a three dimensional star with with a gem on each point, golden wings bursting behind it. It kept on going, blooming between the wings from behind a gold heart with a smaller one inside with wings on the top, a bejeweled crescent moon being created in the vertex on top with a smaller arcs of gold on top. Sailor Moon lowered the staff, the feathers, petals, and sparkles all combing into a large draft that she waved the top of the staff in, filling the gold with gorgeous red crystal. Sailor Moon opened her eyes, twirling the staff once more and stopped. What was in her hands now was the Empyrean Crozier, crafted during the Rebellion war.

She aimed the crozier at the girls, still shaken by the performance she put on. "Etheral Moonlight," she started, the top part creating a ball of light that. She spun around in place, the light engulfing the the top of the staff and becoming bigger by the second. She stopped, the light orb about as big as an exercise ball. She twirled it once more and threw it up in the air only to catch it on both hands near near the pommel. "Luscious Caress!" The ball of light sparkled and then stretched into a beam headed towards the bound Puellas. Their eyes widened in fear and oddly enough awe as it came at them.

Soon the awe overpowered the fear, and when the beam finally hit them they simultaneously cried out: "HEAVENLY!"

Once the light finished passing through them they themselves had already passed out. Madoka and Sayaka stared at the sight, completely awestruck by the attack and even more so by the one who performed it. As Mami unwinded the cowgirl from her ribbons and Venus untied the knight, Sailor Moon heard footsteps behind her and turned around to see Madoka shyly blushing and wringing her hands and looking down at the ground with Sayaka behind her grinning. "Um uh," she stuttered, eyes darting everywhere except towards Sailor Moon, "it's such an honor to meet you!" Madoka bowed to the senshi and once she stood up she saw her smiling right at her making her blush even more. "I'm such huge fan of your work Sailor Moon-san, uh sama, uh senpai-" as she tried to figure out what honorific to use for the pretty soldier in a sailor suit, the bishoujo senshi herself placed her hand on her should making her stop stuttering from the shock of it. "Just Sailor Moon would be fine." she assured, Madoka eagerly nodding. "Yes." she agreed, once again darting her eyes around. "Um Sailor Moon?" "Yes?" "Do you- do you-" "Come on Madoka," egged Sayaka as she hit her friend on the back, making her fumble a bit, "just ask her already." "Sayaka-chan…" "Come on this is a once in a lifetime opportunity!" "Alright," relented Madoka, turning to face Sailor Moon again. "Do you- do you- do you think you could do the thing!?" "The thing?" "You know, the thing."

Sailor Moon looked at her confusion but soon enough grinned when she realized what the Puella meant. "Oh, that thing," she affirmed, nodding her head, "I think I can do that." Sailor Moon cleared her throat and placed her hands on her hips, determination all across her features. "For Love and Justice, a sailor suited pretty soldier, Sailor Moon! In the name of the Moon I will punish you!" she finished, striking her signature pose as Sayaka and Madoka jumped and squealed in delight. "You're so cool!" "Oh stop I'll blush." "You really really are!" "Oh I don't do anything special, I just save the day in the name of love and justice just like any other magical girl would." "Cool." As Madoka and Sayaka gushed over Sailor Moon while she playfully denied all their complements, Venus and Mami watched the three of them, smiling. Soon Mami cleared her throat and got their attention. "Now that this is over, how about we all get something to eat?" "But what about the wraiths?" "Don't worry Kaname-san, we'll still be able to get them. Besides don't you want to have lunch with Sailor Moon?" "Oh yes, absolutely!" With that all five girls detransformed into their civilian forms and left the construction sight, unaware that the soul gems of the Puella Magi they had just defeated were completely clean now.

* * *

"And that's how my future daughter and I defeated a spirit haunting a pawn shop." Usagi finished, taking a spoonful of ice cream while Madoka and Sayaka stared at her in awe. Mami and Minako smiled at the sight. "Excuse me," said Mami, grabbing her purse and getting up from her seat, "I need to use the restroom." "Go ahead," allowed Minako, doing the same only grabbing her empty ice cream cup, "I'm gonna get another ice cream. Wanna get some more too Miki-chan?" "Ok." The three girls left the table, two heading towards the ice cream shop counter while the other went to go powder her nose, leaving Madoka alone. With the most legendary magical girl of all time. Madoka sweated instantaneously once she realized that. She was right there alone together with the Soldier of Love and Justice, the one who saved the world so many times, the one who would one day rule the world, and here she was sitting right next to her. She couldn't mess this up, she couldn't ruin this once in a lifetime chance of being with the legendary sailor soldier, she couldn't make a bad first impression on her, she couldn't-

"Kaname-chan?" Madoka jumped in her seat from hearing the legendary magical girl say her name. "Y-yes!" she blurted out, blushing in embarrassment at doing so in front of her hero. "Are you alright?" Usagi asked, remembering how the girl was sweating bullets earlier. Madoka nervously laughed. "Yes I'm fine Sailor Moon-san - I mean Sailor Moon-" "Just Tsukino will be fine." "Uh yes." Madoka sweated again, Usagi just sighing at the sight. This usually happened with most magical girls she met; while there were some who saw her and her senshi as regular do-gooders like them and the occasional few that viewed term as excessively renowned nuisances (similar to the Puella from earlier), there were some that were complete die hard fans of them, her more specifically. Usagi looked around, trying to look for something that she and Madoka could chat about that could also get her to realize that she truly was just an average girl much like her. Her eyes then widened in delight when she found that something. "Hey Kaname-chan," she began, resting her chin on top of her entwined hands, "those are some really cute ribbons you have on."

Madoka blushed, both from surprise and compliment. "Oh uh thank you." she replied, touching one of the ribbons themselves. Usagi smiled. "Really, they look so pretty on you." "Y- you really think so?" "Of course! Red goes great with pink!" Madoka nervously laughed. "So tell me, where did you get them?" Madoka stiffened. Usagi, tilting her head in both concern and confusion, looked at her. "Kaname-chan, are you alright?" "Oh uh yeah, it's just what you just said..." "About where you got your ribbons?" "Yeah that." "Oh is there a problem with it? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to-" "Oh no, no, it's not that, it's just, well, how I got the ribbons is kinda weird?" "Weird?" "Yeah it's a long story. You see..."

Madoka explained how her and her family had previously lived abroad in the U.S. for three years and when they moved back to Mitakihara she went into the same school as her childhood friend Sayaka and on the first day there she had met this girl. "Her name was Homura," she continued, taking a spoonful of vanilla ice cream, "and when she was taking me to the nurse's office, I sorta blacked out for a bit. When I came to, the ribbons I was wearing before were somehow gone and she was kind of hugging me. Then she asked me something about law and order and I said law and then she gave me these ribbons, which she herself was already wearing before. She put them on me and said that they looked good on me. Overall the whole thing was kinda creepy, her especially, but she also looked really tired so I guess she was just did it out of sleep deprivation." Madoka looked up and saw Usagi, her mouth in a thin line and her eyes wide as saucers. "Are you ok? The story was weird wasn't it-" "No, no, no!" Usagi immediately assured, having before rapidly blinked stare away, "it was just, uh, quite a story there. Did you ever see that girl again?" "Well yeah, sorta. I mean she never really talked to me at all after that, and sometimes in class I was pretty sure she was always looking at me. Then the last time I ever saw her again was about a few months ago." "Really? What happened?" "Well she kinda cornered me when class ended and asked me to hang out with her. Sayaka-chan was there when it happened and she was telling her I was busy later even though I wasn't but she still insisted we go out together. She looked really desperate, so I said yes and then asked her if Sayaka-chan could come too but she said no. She grabbed my arm and pulled me right out of school and took me all around the city. We went to an arcade, a movie, even this ice cream shop right here, then we went to a park. We sat down and talked about some stuff and then out of nowhere she just hugged me. She then said she was gonna go somewhere and that she wasn't sure if she would come back. I guess she was moving away somewhere really far, and then she asked me if I would miss her. I wasn't sure what to say, I mean we didn't really hang out at all, plus I barely knew her. She asked me again and I still wasn't sure, so she still kept on asking me, she was also shaking me too, like a lot, and then she pushed me down on the bench and got on top of me and-"

Madoka stopped taking, looking away from Usagi who then became worried by such. "Kaname-chan," she said, reaching her hand out to hold her's, "you don't have to keep talking about it if you don't want to." Madoka looked her hand holding her own and then up to her, a small smile on her face. "O-ok," she said timidly, "it kinda got scary at that point." Usagi furrowed her eyebrows, holding her hand tighter than before. "Well she's gone now right?" she asked, smiling slightly. "Yeah she is. You know this might sound a little mean but I feel relieved that she's gone." "Oh Kaname-chan, that's not mean at all." "Really?" "Yeah. I mean this girl made you feel uncomfortable right? So you can feel however you want about her, especially relief that she's gone now." Madoka's smile widened, her sweet pink eyes staring right into Usagi's deep ceruleans. "Ok."

As they started up a new conversation, Sayaka and Minako watched them do so from the shop's counter smiling as well. "Madoka and Usagi-san really look like they're getting along, huh." commented Sayaka. Minako nodded. "They really do." They turned back towards the store's counter, waiting for the lone employee to return with their ice cream. "So tell me Minako-san," said Sayaka, her smile dissipating, "do they remember?" Minako side-eyed her, her smile as well having turned into a strict frown. "No," she replied, eyes darting to the front, "Mami and Kyoko only remember the A.A. timeline, the Rebellion incident, and the beginning of the A.R. timeline." "I see." Sayaka noted, thinking back to when Sailor Pluto had coined the terms A.A., After Ascension, and A.R., After Rebellion. "Go over what they remember in order again." Minako nodded, explaining how their lives up to the A.A. timeline was the same to when they were sucked into the Rebellion incident, how after it they saw the Puella's goddess (whose features still remain blurry to them) and when they saw Homura usurped her and rewrite all their memories and recreate the timeline and everything else up to them regaining their memories thanks to Pluto and getting recruited for the Rebellion war. "So they don't still don't have memories of pre A.A. timelines?" "No not at all. If you'd like we could give them-" "No." Sayaka stated, her mind swimming with images of the memories of such. "It's better that they don't."

Minako stared at her again, looking away once more, only imagining how horrible the previous timelines might've been. "Very well," she replied, "and Kaname?" "Her true powers resurface every once in a while, but once they do they're immediately repressed and she either plays it off believing she blacked out or faints." Minako's hands clenched into fists. "The binds she placed on her are really strong." she noted, remembering when Sayaka had called her and Pluto to teleport into their school in the nurse's office when she had passed out from such and tried to give her memories back to her only for Pluto to be knocked away from attempting to do so. "These used to happen occasionally once a month at first, right? Then after that once or twice a week. Now?" "It happens at least three times a week." "I see." Silence. "She's fighting really hard against it, I can just feel it." Sayaka admitted. "Alright." said Minako. She then placed a hand on her shoulder. "By the way, we thank you again for telling us." Sayaka shrugged her hand off. "Don't thank me," she stated, "I don't want to remember the war." The war, the Rebellion war, created when multiple magical girls learned about the Rebellion incident, and all because of her.

In the beginning, after the Rebellion incident, when everyone involved in it memories were rewritten, after a few months of such with her and Nagisa struggling against the binds Homura put on them to prevent them from regain their memories, Minako showed up. She had met Mami when they were each starting out in the magical girl business and she had came to Mitakihara to see her old friend again. And then in one moment, in one moment where she regained her memories before getting repressed, when Mami, Nagisa, and Kyoko had left her alone with her, she had begged desperately: "Please help us take down the Devil." Minako confused by the request tried to ask her what it had meant only to find that the girl had no memory of saying such. When she went home she told her senshi friends about it who also found it strange especially since it coincided with the strange feeling in the air. Minako returned a week later, this time with all her senshi friends. They had all teleported into her room, much to her surprise, and interrogated her about what she knew.

Of course due to being repressed at the time, she had no idea what they were talking about and she felt so scared and confused until Sailor Pluto went up to her and helped her regain her memories. After her mind was clear again and free from Homura's restraints, she told them everything start to finish. Once she did that the senshi alerted magical girls who felt the same sort of disturbance as them and they did the same and so on. They were quiet at first, studying Homura's every move, Sayaka being the most careful around her, but the Devil soon caught on. She had also tried to keep it a secret from Mami, Kyoko, and even Nagisa but they ended up stumbling upon their faction and she had no choice but to return their memories to them. Once Pluto helped them regain their memories (even though Mami and Kyoko's memory of seeing Madokami in person was a bit blurry due to that being the most strongest restraint Homura put on them that even the time senshi couldn't break through) they insisted on joining the cause. She tried to dissuade them but they refused to hear anything about it, being dead set about fighting against Homura. Then it began.

Homura had finally caught wind of Sayaka gathering together magical girls against her and had attempted to kill them all in one go until Sayaka, along with the help of Usagi, persuaded her to fight against all of them in a grand battle. Homura relented, and to keep damage away from Earth she chose to have the battle fought on Mars (which it's senshi allowed as long the moons were kept out of it). The battle- the war really- was brutal beyond belief. Coupled with fighting her familiars, that at the time could combine together to become even more terrifying creatures beyond belief, she had also used her powers to turn the planet's terrain into a constantly changing labyrinth. So many magical girls were injured, some nearly on the verge of death. It would've been all over for them if it wasn't for Sailor Moon- in that one moment when they were all on the ground she was the only one that stood up. She asked them- all of them- to lend her their power and when they did so the Empyrean Crozier was forged. With it she charged right into Homura and simultaneously healed the fallen and destroyed her from the inside, leaving nothing but a small shred of her true self. Which was then immediately knocked out cold by getting hit on the head with Pluto's Garnet Rod. While she was still unconscious Sailor Moon asked Pluto to encase her in a Garnet Ball and to keep her in the Corridor of Space-Time forever so that she could never change the universe to her whims again. But ever since she was imprisoned wraiths were starting to become scarce meaning that grief cubes to purify soul gems were starting to become low. Sayaka shuddered from wondering what would happen to a magical girl who's soul gem becomes absolutely corrupt and has no goddess to lead her to heaven where her poor soul could rest. She wasn't able to contact the Puella Valhalla for help with that due to still being under one of the few restraints Homura still had on her along with being unable to summon her witch Oktavia, leaving her to only pray that Madokami would reawaken one day.

Minako empathetically looked at her then turned away. "Alright." she replied, the ice cream shop's employee now returned from the back with her cookie dough ice cream and Sayaka's strawberry flavored one. The two took their treats, Minako paying, and returned to their seats laughing as if they didn't have a conversation about wars, the Devil, God, and magic. They sat down, Mami herself having returned from the restroom, and immediately digged into their frozen desserts. For now they would relax and then after hunt for any wraiths if they were any still left in the city. That was the plan- or used to be it.

"Hey!" All five girls turned around and saw two other girls, one with bright orange eyes and hair in the same color done in braids and another with electric green eyes and messily bobbed hair. The Puella from earlier. They all glared at them, hands already on their transformation trinkets. "Oh, it's you again." said Minako. "Came to get your asses kicked again?" The orange one chuckled. "No, in fact we came for something else." She and her friend held out their hands, the silver bands on their fingers materializing into crystal clear soul gems. Madoka gasped. "Your soul gems!" she cried out. "They're clean?" "Like a whistle." stated Orange, her and Green's soul gems reverting back into rings. Minako glare grew intense. "Kaname," she started, the girls gleefully grinning at them, "you had a good look at their soul gems earlier right?" Madoka fearfully nodded. "Yeah, they were halfway filthy before." Orange's grin grew wider. "That's right," she agreed, "me and Midori-chan's soul gems were nearly completely dirty. We were desperate and while we were hunting around for wraiths we found that these two had just defeated one and got the grief cube. And even though we asked politely," she stressed out, Madoka and Sayaka glaring at her even more, "they wouldn't hand it over." "So we were forced to use force!" Midori piped in, much to her friend's chagrin. "Yeah, so anyway when your good friend Sailor Moon came in and blasted us unconscious with that attack of her's we found when we woke up that our soul gems were clean." Usagi's eyes widened in surprise. "The crozier did that?"

Orange grinned even more, Midori eagerly nodding her head. "Yep and that's why we're here," she explained, walking closer to them, "we want to strike a deal with you..." she raised her finger at Usagi, whose eyes widened in fear, then pointed it at Minako, "Sailor Moon." Minako scrunched her face up, everyone's eyes on her, Usagi, Sayaka, and Mami's in fear and Madoka's in confusion. She then took a deep breath and hardened her gaze at the orange girl. "Just what are you offering?" she demanded. Orange's grin widened, making her appear even more vicious. "You work for us and we won't come and we won't hurt you and your friends here." Minako's grip on her Sailor Crystal tightened even more as her glare became more and more intense. "Work for you?" she questioned, "you mean work with you right." "With, for, what's the difference really?" "Well with makes it sound like we have a partnership going on but for makes it sound like I'm some lackey of yours which is really ridiculous considering both who I am and how I kicked both of your asses earlier."

She could tell how Orange was fighting the urge to scowl. "I see," she said, walking a few steps back to her green colored friend, "if that's how you feel then- MIDORI NOW!" Immediately Midori pulled out two cardboard tubes from her pockets and threw them on the ground, causing them to explode and emit smoke that covered the entire area. The girls covered their mouths and mouths and tried to make out anything in the smoke fog, aside from some flashes of orange and green light, but were unable to. Then they each heard a loud metallic clanking sound along with a muffled scream that most likely came from Minako. Soon the smoke cleared, Sayaka, Madoka, Usagi, and Mami coughing to take in as much fresh new air as possible. Once they were done doing so they saw that the orange and green girls were gone along with Minako. "Aino-san!" "Minako-chan!" They looked in every direction possible, Usagi taking a few steps until she stepped on top of something which she looked down to see was Minako's Sailor Crystal. As she picked it up Madoka found the the perpetrators standing on top of one of the buildings, Minako struggling as she was trapped in the grip of a body sized gauntlet made by the Puella known as Midori, who then immediately ran off. The three Puella and remaining senshi glared at them, immediately jumping up to the top of the building to chase after them.

While Madoka, Sayaka, and Mami transformed during the jump up in quick flashes of light, Usagi pulled her disguise pen from her pocket and held it up in front of her. "Moon Power," she cried out, "turn me into Eternal Sailor Venus!" Her body was then glazed in a bright light and once she and the others landed she had changed into a complete replica of Sailor Venus, albeit with hair wavier than the actual person along with one of the ribbons around her waist, choker, and top line of her boots being pink, but despite the slight differences it would work. They kept jumping rooftop to rooftop till they finally managed to catch up to Minako and her kidnappers. "Let go of my friend!" demanded Fake Eternal Sailor Venus. Orange and Midori nodded to each other, Midori then continuing running away with Minako still in her grip as Orange pulled out a pair of pistols. As she motioned one of them to come fight her, Usagi leaned her head towards Mami. "You and Miki-chan stay here and here and fight her while Kaname-chan and I go after the other one." Mami nodded, her and Sayaka pulling out their weapons as Usagi and Madoka jumped over the orange cowgirl and went after the green knight. "You got this Miki-san?" asked Mami as she stood back to back to her and cocked her rifle, confidence radiating off of her. Sayaka smirked, brandishing her sword. "You know it." With that the two Puella charged right to the orange cowgirl Puella.

Meanwhile Madoka and Usagi were just on the heels of the green knight Puella that was holding Minako hostage. As they jumped off one rooftop to another, Madoka looked towards Usagi, her face full of befuddlement. Usagi noticed this when they jumped off another rooftop. "Something wrong Kaname-chan?" "Huh? Oh uh it's nothing really." "Are sure? Cause you can tell me you know." Madoka looked around nervously, trying to think of something to say, but while in her thoughts she lost her footing and landed about a few inches away from the next rooftop. She would've fallen to her doom if Usagi hadn't immediately grabbed her hand. "Are you ok?" she asked, kneeling down with one hand on the ledge and the other grasping Madoka's own. Madoka stared at her, her life was again saved by the Soldier of Love and Justice, then quickly nodded. Usagi helped her get up on the rooftop and they returned to chasing down the runaway knight, Madoka soon gaining the confidence to talk to her.

"Um Tsukino," she started. "Yeah?" "I have a question- well two questions actually, you see I was um, uh-" Madoka stopped stumbling over her words, for Usagi had placed her hand on her shoulder when they jumped to another rooftop. "Go on." she assured, her face showing nothing but kindness. Madoka nodded, determined more than ever to ask her. "Well first of all how come those Puella think Venus is you? I mean no offense but your outfits aren't that good at hiding your identities." Usagi smiled. "Well you see Kaname-chan there are magical girls kinda like me and Minako-chan who fight enemies that aren't like wraiths, you know that right?" "Uh right." "Well see these enemies would do anything to hurt us and if they knew our true identities they could hurt us and our loved ones at anytime." "Ok." "So see our outfits come equipped with something that distorts their view of us to make us look completely different from our civilian forms. They're many different types of it, like for example me and the sailor senshi it disrupts our aura, and recently a team of magical boys have come around and for them it changes the pitch of their voices and pixelates their faces." "Like on TV when they're doing an interview and the person doesn't want to be seen or heard so they won't get tracked down?" "Yeah like that, but it only works if they haven't seen us transform, which is why you and Miki-chan know who we are and they don't." "Oh ok," replied Madoka, readying herself for her next question.

"So what else did you want to ask Kaname-chan?" "Well..." "Well?" "Well, I wanna know why you chose to have me go with you?" Usagi looked at her as they landed on another rooftop and kept running for momentum to jump off another. "I mean Mami-san and Sayaka-chan have been magical girls longer than I have, so they have more experience than me and are way more powerful, but just why did you pick me?" Madoka was then met with Usagi kindly smiling at her again. "Because Kaname-chan, I believe in you." Believe? Madoka felt something, a light pulsing in her head, but focused on Usagi for now. "What do you mean "believe"?" "Well Mami-chan's told me a lot about you, like what you wished for, your attacks, how many wraiths you can take down in one shot." "Really?" "And Kyoko-chan says you're not too shabby either." They both giggled at that. "And besides that I really think you're strong." Strong? Another light pulse in her head. "Strong? No that can't be, you're probably just saying that-" "I'm not." Madoka looked at Usagi again, her features completely serious. "I can see it in you Madoka Kaname, you're really strong. You may not think so but there are plenty of others who do like Mami-chan, Kyoko-chan, Miki-chan- and me of course!" Madoka felt something inside of her, something warm, bright, and shiny, something she didn't know; but whatever it was it felt good. "Thank you Tsukino." Usagi smiled. "Its nothing, I'm just saying the truth that's all." _Or some of it._

Soon enough they were right behind Minako and Midori. "Let go of her right now!" Usagi demanded, scaring the wits out of the kidnapping Puella. "N-no!" she blurted out. "Kin-chan and I got into this shit together and we're going to make the best of it together, and if it means I have to kidnap a big name magical girl to do so then so be it!" Usagi could see she was desperate, recalling quite clearly how her soul gem right in the middle of her chest plate was half way back, but she couldn't allow herself to back down, not with Minako's life at stake. "I see," she spoke, not making eye contact with the Puella, "then I have no choice." She looked to Madoka and nodded, Madoka doing the same as well, and the two immediately charged towards the girl. Usagi stopped as Madoka went on ahead, putting two fingers around the star on her tiara and cried out "Venus Morningstar Light Flash!" The star then emitted a bright flash of light, blinding the Puella, giving Madoka the chance to aim an arrow at her gauntlet carrying arm. Minako fell her side, the gauntlet having dissipated when Midori dropped her. She mumbled a few curses as she got up rubbed her hip but soon enough got Usagi's attention. Usagi stopped the flash and jumped high in the air with Minako following suit, leaving her kidnapper rubbing her eyes with Madoka preparing to take another shot. "So this is the best you could come up with?" critiqued Minako as she gestured to Usagi's disguise. "Oh please if you can be the moon princess then I certainly can be the Goddess of Love. By the way," she said, reaching her hand into her cleavage to pull out Minako's Sailor Crystal, "I think this belongs to you." Minako smiled, taking back what was hers. As they were about to go down, they each held their transformation trinkets close to their hearts with one hand up to the sky and shouted at the top of their lungs:

"Venus Crystal Power!"

"Moon Eternal!"

"Make Up!"

When they landed they were transformed once more, Minako as Eternal Sailor Venus and Usagi as Eternal Sailor Moon. Venus stretched out her whip, Sailor Moon placed a hand over her heart, a small light budding right under it, and Madoka aimed her bow. Midori was completely surrounded by the three, nowhere to turn and no where to run. "Its over," stated Venus, each girl inching right towards her, "just run back to your friend and we'll forget this ever happened." As tears were brimming in her eyes Midori looked down at the ground. "You don't get it do you?" she said, still not looking at them. Usagi eased up her stance, pushing the crozier's tip back into her chest. "Kin-chan and I- last time it was too close, way to close. We can't ever let it happen again so..." "Let what happen?" asked Usagi, Venus looking to her in confusion. Midori sniffled.

"WE DON'T KNOW!" Tears were streaming down her face now, pain and anguish written all over her. "We don't know! We don't know! We don't know! WE DON'T KNOW! We were too lazy to get more grief cubes for a while and Kin-chan's soul gem was almost completely filthy and I had to- I had to-" She sniffled again, making them wonder about what she had done to get a grief cube. "We don't know what'll happen to us if our soul gems become completely corrupt," she kept going, tears still coming, "we already know our soul gems have our actual souls but what'll happen to us if we don't take care of them, but if we had you and your power we won't have to know, we won't have to hunt wraiths again, we'll never have to hurt anyone anymore, we'll- we'll-" She fell to her knees and sobbed into her hands. Venus's expression remained fierce but she lowered her whip anyway as Usagi walked over to the girl. "Hey look you-" "I see."

Usagi and Minako were surprised to hear Madoka's voice in a reverberating tone but soon enough became shocked when they turned to her and found her eyes a golden hue and a blank smile on her face. "I see," she repeated, slowly walking closer to the sobbing Puella, "I see how much you have suffered." Venus went to Sailor Moon, holding her princess in her embrace as they watched Madokami resurface in her mortal form and watched her get close to her former kidnapper. "What?" she said as she lifted her face out of her palms and looked into what she was sure was pink eyes of a goddess reawakening. Madoka kneeled down next her, her expression and actions completely blank as if she was on autopilot. Usagi was sure she could see faint wisps of long pink locks of hair coming from Madoka as said person then cupped her hands around the green Puella's soul gem which she noticed some grief starting to build up. "You don't need to cry anymore," she continued, the grief being pulled out in a smoke like stream, "because your troubles are now over." Sailor Moon and Venus looked at the sight, hope welling up within them. This was a breakthrough, Madoka/mi was purifying a soul gem and was going to take a Puella to heaven which from there she can take her place as the rightful creator of the universe and-

Midori let out a pained scream, shaking Usagi and Venus out of their thoughts to now look at the horror right before them. Madoka/mi was doing more than just pulling her grief out, she was pulling her soul out as well! It came out from its setting much like the grief only bigger and in varying shades of green. "Stop! Stop!" begged Midori, tears streaming down her face from the pain of her soul being siphoned out of her, but to no avail did the goddess stop. "I see, I see, I see how much you have suffered." she replied automatically, repeating everything that she had said before while Midori still screamed in Moon and Venus ran over to the two, Venus pulling Midori away with her soul still being taken out and Usagi shaking Madoka/mi. "Kaname-chan! Kaname-chan! Please stop!" She kept crying out , but Madoka/mi, with her eyes and smile absolutely devoid of emotion, continuing what she was doing. Soon Usagi could take it anymore and hesitantly raised her hand. "Just STOP!"

She slapped Madoka/mi acrossed the face, making her fall over as her smile went away and her eyes faded back to pink and closed shut. As that happened Midori let out one last scream of anguish before her soul completely exploded out of her gem, making her go limp and her eyes roll into the back of her head. Usagi gathered up Madoka in her arms, inspecting the red mark her slap left on her cheek, only for a gasp from Minako to take her attention. "What is it?" she asked, running over to her while carrying Madoka. "It's gone." she stated completely shocked. Sailor Moon knelt down with her at the body and gasped in horror when she saw what was missing: the soul gem that was placed in the middle of the breast plate was now gone. Usagi covered her mouth as her eyes widened in complete horror of it all and soon enough started to hyperventilate. "Mi-Mi-Minako-chan" she panted out between breaths, tears brimming in her own eyes now, "w-w-what a-are w-we gonna-na do-o?"

"Usagi-chan, please calm down!" she begged her princess, who attempted to only to keep on hyperventilating. Her face contorted in worry and then she asked her to hand over her disguise pen, which she did, and then turned it into a paper bag and returned it to Usagi to breath into. Then just as she was about to turn on her communicator and reach one of the cats, she heard footsteps right behind her and as she turned around she saw with horror that it was Midori's friend Kin staring right back at her with eyes wide with horror. "Midori..." she breathed out, still staring at the sight, "Midori." A single tear rolled down her face now as her features contorted into a fierce expression and she charged right towards them. "MIDORI!"

"Stop!" Venus cried out, making Kin stop and Usagi look up at her while still hyperventilating. "Don't come any closer." Kin stared at her, rage boiling deep inside her. "Who did this?" she demanded through gritted teeth as Venus still looked on seriously. "Who did this!?" "I did." she stated as she got up, Kin's eyes widening even more in absolute anger. "What?" "I did it, me, all me, I shot her and now she's- well you know." Kin's fists tightened enough for her nails to stab her palms as she continued looking at the one who claimed to have killed her friend. "You... you did this!? You did THIS!?" Venus nodded, a false expression of cockiness spreading across her features. "Yep, and I'll do the same to you if you don't get the hell out of here soon." The cowgirl Puella looked absolutely livid now as she backtracked away from her. "You- you- I'll get you for this! I'll get you for Midori and get her for myself!" Minako smirked, falsely that is. "Oh yeah? You and what army?" Kin's expression softened but then she immediately grinned. "You'll see," she promised as she walked away, "you'll see!" With that she jumped away to another building and soon enough was out if her sight.

Minako sighed, letting it all crash down on her. She looked to the body and then back behind her. Knowing that Sayaka and Mami, who still had no clue about Madoka being her god, would come around soon, she brought her wrist up and turned her communicator on. "Luna, are you there? Good, I need your help with something..."

* * *

**That was quite something, huh. By the way the Empyrean Crozier is based off a staff Usagi is holding a fuku design by one of the original anime's illustrator and character designer Fukano Youchi. Also if you have any questions about the story leave some in the reviews and I'll answer it in the next chapter. See you next time.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'M SO SORRY I TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE! I had a really busy summer and was only able to finish this last night. Please enjoy and tell me what you think.**

* * *

Nanami sighed as she plopped down on her sleeping mat. All day long she had done nothing but sell charms, clean the shrine, and chase Nagisa (who she learned was not Chibi Moon) all around it. Worst part of it was that it was all for nothing because she didn't even get to see Minako at all that day. She buried her face into her pillow and groaned about her wasted efforts. "So I can guess you had a terrible time doing this shit too right?" quipped Kyoko as she entered the room to change from her robes. Nanami only turned away and grumbled, making Kyoko frown at her as she put a stick of pocky in her mouth and opened up her wardrobe. "Whatever." Nanami huddled herself into a ball, thinking about one thing and one thing only: Minako. How strong and powerful Minako must be, what Minako was interested in, what Minako enjoyed and so on. Oh how she wished to work up the courage and ask her out yet alas she had no idea how the whole dating thing worked for the most that she knew was confessing your love and asking them out to which they would respond with either a yes, confessing that they felt the same way and a yes, or just rejection. Nanami curled up even more as her frustrations grew, wishing to get advice on the matter. She could ask Rei since she herself said that she swung that way too but she highly doubted she would give her advice on the matter considering the day she had put her through. She also wasn't that much close to rest of the senshi and their friends either. She groaned about her predicament, knowing that there was no way to get what she wanted-

An idea hit her. More specifically a shirt. While Kyoko was searching through her wardrobe for something to change into she was flinging articles of clothing all around their shared room and one of them, a light blue shirt that said "HERS" in a white bold font with an arrow under it pointing left, landed on Nanami's face. Nanami would've yelled at her, but the moment she pulled the shirt off her face she had gotten the idea. She didn't like the idea, but considering that Kyoko had been around the senshi much longer than her, the person that she called the most on her phone was some girl named Sayaka, how she had begged Rei to teleport her to Mitakihara when this Sayaka's parents weren't home, and of course the shirt, she found she had no choice but to at least try it no matter how much the thought of it made her sick to her stomach. "Hey Kyoko," she started, turning around to see said girl under the covers of her mat watching a video on her phone while nibbling on a taiyaki turn to her with a raised eyebrow as soon as she said her name. "What?" she demanded as she turned back to her phone annoyed. "Can I ask you something?" "Make it quick." "You're a lesbian right?" Kyoko paused the video, lowering her phone as she turned to Nanami. "No, I'm totally hetero and like banging guys." Nanami blinked and blushed a bit, lowering her head in embarrassment. "Oh uh sorry-" "I'm being sarcastic you idiot!" Nanami's head shot up, her angered features meeting Kyoko's own that expressed annoyance. "W-well it's not like I could tell!" "Seriously? Not even in this tone?" Nanami growled, turning away crossing her arms. "Ugh, I can't believe I actually considered asking you." "Considered asking me for what exactly?" Nanami eyes widened, her whole face becoming as red as the miko robes she still wore. "I- it's none of your business!" "None of my business, eh?" Kyoko chuckled. "Well let's see you asked me if I'm a lesbian, which I am by the way, and if I take into consideration how much you kept saying "Oh, Minako-san" in your sleep last night and how you were also talking about her earlier today while getting all dressed up, you-" "No." "Wanted-" "No." "To-" "No!" "Ask me for tips on how to get with her!" "No! No! No!"

Kyoko bursted out laughing, falling back on her mat while Nanami stewed in rage. "Shut up!" she screeched, throwing her pillow at her which did nothing to cease Kyoko's laughter. "Hahaha, you must be really desperate if you're coming to me." Kyoko said when she finished laughing, wiping a tear from her eye. Nanami glared at her and hmphed as she turned away. "But why ask me though?" Nanami turned back to Kyoko, her face completely serious and curious. "Ask you?" "Yeah, in case you forgotten we sort of fucking hate each other." "Well uh-" "Plus what would I get out of helping you?" "Would you let me say something!?" yelled Nanami. Kyoko took another bite of her taiyaki as Nanami inhaled to finally speak her reasons. "Well you have experience being with girls, right?" "A bit yeah." "And you've known Minako-san a lot longer than me, right?" "Yep." "Well I figured that with all of that you could probably-probably-" "Spit it out." "- help me ask out Minako-san!" She hid her blushing face in her hands as soon as she blurted that out, Kyoko still looking at her. "Ah huh, now get to why I would help you?" Nanami lowered her hands, her face completely serious. "Close your eyes." "What?" "Just close your eyes and look away!"

Kyoko shrugged, doing as she was told. She heard Nanami get up and walk somewhere and open something, her wardrobe most likely, and shuffle around everything inside of it. Soon she stopped and walked over to mat and plopped down on it. "Here." Kyoko opened an eye, then immediately both of them as they widened at the sight in front of her: in Nanami's hand she held a wad of yen about as tall as a brick. "How much is that?" she asked, reaching out for it only for Nanami to whisk the hand holding it away. "My parents send me an allowance of every month. If you help me I'll pay you ¥25,000 for every time you give me advice." Kyoko went from astonishment to absolute skepticism. "¥25,000, really?" "¥25,000 is a good price!" "Yeah, but if you want high quality advice you need higher pay. I want ¥1,000,000." Nanami blanched at that, knowing that she would run out of her monthly allowance of ¥50,000,000 from that price. Sat back up, ready to haggle Kyoko for an easier price. "Pick something lower than that." "¥900,000." "Lower." "¥,850,000." "Lower." "¥800,000." "Go lower than that." "¥600,000." "That's not low enough!" "Well considering what a little rich girl you are I'm getting all that I'm worth." Nanami growled but calmed down a bit when she thought up a manageable price. "I'll give you ¥60,000 and that's as high as I'll go." "Deal!"

The two shook on it, Nanami still keeping the money away from Kyoko. "So do I get payed now?" "Depends, do you have any advice?" Kyoko sighed, but grinned when an idea popped into her head. "Well I have some information." teased Kyoko, watching Nanami as her interest was piqued. "Information? What kind of information?" "Oh just some stuff about Minako." "What kind of stuff?" "Pay me and I'll tell you." "Well tell me then I'll pay you." "No, you pay me first and then I'll tell you." "How do I know you just won't rip me off if I do what you want?" "Well I do I know if you won't rip me off if we do it your way!?" The two girls were literally butting heads now, growling at each other to be able to get what they needed. Soon enough this all stopped when Nanami got an idea and pulled her head away. "Ok how bout you give me advice now and as soon as you do it I pay you." Kyoko glared at her but soon nodded her head in agreement. "Alright," said Nanami, now bringing the money a little closer to Kyoko, "on the count of three we'll trade." "Sounds easy." "Alright. One," the wad was moved an inch closer, "two," a couple inches closer, "three!" "Minako's here right now in Rei's room!" As soon as she said that Kyoko was met with a gust of wind and bills of yen fluttering around her.

She smirked, picking up every last bit of yen around her. "I knew it would work."

* * *

As soon as Kyoko said what she said Nanami immediately dashed out of there and headed to Rei's room. She couldn't believe she had no idea Minako was right here now under the same roof as her. Oh how she could imagine their reunion-

_"Minako-san!" Nanami yelled as soon as she slid open the door. Minako gasped. "Nanami, is that you?" she asked, hope sparkling in her eyes. "Yes!" "Nanami!" Minako cried out, her arms open for an embrace. "Minako-san- OOF!"_

Nanami had just face planted into the wall right next to the door of Rei's room. She pulled her face away from it, rubbing her cheeks and wincing from doing so while trying to blink back tears of pain. The door slid open, Rei popping out of it. "Nanami what do you want now?" she asked, completely done with everything Nanami had put her through today. Nanami stopped rubbing her cheeks and laughed. "Ohohoho, it's nothing Rei-san but I just heard that Minako-san is here and I would like to welcome her back." she explained as she pushed Rei aside and walked right in. "Oh hey Nanami." Nanami once again felt time stop.

Minako was sitting by herself on the side of the futon facing her while everyone else were paired in two and sitting on either side. Minako was all that she could focus on until Rei shook her out of whatever fantasy she was about to create. "Nanami! Don't space out again!" "Oh uh sorry." "Anyway sit down, I think you might need to hear this." Nanami was confused but did what she was told and sat down by Minako, which she was extremely delighted by. "Hey." Minako greeted again, making Nanami blush and look away. "Hello." she said back, unable to look at Minako. "You know you look really good in those robes." That excited Nanami, giving her the confidence to slightly turn towards Minako. "R-really, you think so?" "Mm hmm, plus you look really cute with your hair like that, the bow especially." Nanami blushed even more from that, brushing her fingers through her ponytail. "Thank you." "Mm hmm." They turned to Rei, now sitting on the opposite to them on the futon.

"Nanami do you remember when you almost fell into that hole in school and how that nun helped you out?" "Yes." replied Nanami, remembering the very moment (mostly the nun). "Well I think she might be an enemy." That took Nanami out of her thoughts. "What?" "It's true, when I pulled you away from her I felt a dark energy coming from her. And I don't think she's the only one." Nanami blinked. Who else could there be. "That new teacher Romee might also be an enemy." Nanami scooted back a bit at that. "Romee-sensei too? But how do you know?" "At lunch when I was looking for you she brushed against me and I felt the exact kind of energy that I got from Sister Cereza." "Oh my God." Nanami looked down in disbelief. She couldn't believe that someone as beautiful as Sister Cereza could be an enemy to her, and although Romee was heavy on schoolwork, she couldn't be that evil. "H-how can you be so sure?" Nanami demand, banging her fists on the futon surprising everyone. "I didn't say I was sure," corrected Rei, "I said that I think they're enemies. Plus there's also something else about their energies." Nanami took her fists back, calming herself enough to listen to whatever else Rei had to say. "What is it?" "While their energies are overpoweringly dark there is something a little familiar about them." "Familiar? What do you-" Nanami gasped when she realized what she meant.

"You mean their energies are kind of like ours?" "Yeah, a little bit, but kind of like ours." "So then that would mean Sister Cereza and Romee-sensei are-" "Magical girls yes." "Well if they are then they're not enemies right?" Rei looked down, everyone else looking around in different directions. "Just because they're magical girls," said Minako, looking away from Nanami, "it doesn't mean they're not enemies." "Every type of magical girl is different Nanami," Rei explained, "while they're are some like us that mean no harm there are others who use their powers for their own gain without caring about the consequences of their actions." Nanami lowered her head when she realized what she meant. "Oh I see." Despite their occupation magical girls were still people, especially people that could hurt others, just like-

She shook that thought out of her, refusing to even think that, and focused on Rei again. "Also there have been stuff going around that I think they might have something to do with. Ami-chan can you show us?" Ami nodded, Nanami noting that this was the first time her eyes weren't glued to that little computer of hers, only to then bring it out and tap away on it's small keyboard, making it project a 3D hologram of the hole at school. "Rei-chan told me about this," Ami still tapped away on the keyboard, "and she asked me to find out if the same thing or something similar had happened anywhere else and here's what I found." The hologram fizzled and changed from the hole to another one at a park then to one that was in a mall, having destroyed a fountain from what she could tell from the still running pipes in it, and the upper level of it, crumbling and draped in police tape to a building with a big chunk missing to a church literally half standing. "All of these have been happening around Juuban this month," Ami explained, still typing, "and I also did some research on the suspects behind it." The hologram then changed to two separate paragraphs with a picture on top of each, one of Romee and the other of Cereza without her wimple. "They both moved here this month," Ami continued, scrolling down the information she had on them, "and before they used to reside in New York and around that area I found these." The hologram once again changed to show sites of destruction similar to ones they all saw earlier.

"But this could all be a coincidence right?" said Nanami, only making Rei shake her head. "Maybe it is or maybe it isn't; either way we can't take any chances, which is why Minako-chan and I are going to investigate." Silence. "Huh?" "Rei-chan and I are gonna go to your school and dig up any dirt we can find on them." Minako summed up. "We're gonna look around and try to catch them orange handed!" "Red handed Minako-chan." "Eh what's the difference, either way we're gonna bust them-" "I'm coming too!" interjected Nanami, everyone turning to her in surprise. "Oh no Nanami you don't have to-" "No Rei-san, I insist! I want to help you two out and take down these possible enemies who dared try to invade this place." Rei looked at her roommate wide eyed, completely taken away by her agency. "Wow Nanami, I didn't know you felt that way," she admitted as she rubbed the back of her head, "I guess you could come along too." "Thank you Rei-san."

Despite appearing calm and compliant on the outside, Nanami inside was overflowing with joy. I get to go out with Minako-san!, she thought with joy. Immediately she realized that she would be with Minako in the investigation meaning she would have to do stuff with her. She freaked out a bit wondering what she could do-

The door slid open, revealing Kyoko flipping through the yen bills she left her in her haste. "Oi Nanami you're a couple of yen off our deal-" "Ah Kyoko-san!" Nanami interrupted, clamping her hand over her mouth much to the other's obvious confusion and anger, "I'm so glad you're here! I was just going to suggest to Rei-san and Minako-san that you come along with us." This was perfect, with Kyoko by her side she could woo Minako and win her heart before the night was over. "What the hell are you talking about-" "Come and I'll pay you extra." "I would love to help out! What the hell are we doing exactly?" "No." said bluntly by Rei, making her roommates blink in confusion. "Huh?" "Kyoko's not coming." "Why the hell not!?" "Because you two are gonna do nothing but fight with each other which will end up ruining everything." "What? Fight with each other?" "Oh we could never do that Rei-san; in fact we've actually been getting along lately." "Really? Just today you two were throwing charms at each other to exorcise the other." "But that's all in the past Rei-san." "Yeah forgive and forget." Rei glared at them but soon enough relented. "Alright Kyoko can come too." "Yes!" "Thank you Rei-san!" "But if you two get into even one tiny argument I'm sending both of your asses home." "Ok."

"Then it's settled," said Minako as she got up, "you, me, Kyoko, and Nanami are gonna go to T.A to see what those two are up to." Everyone nodded. "Be safe you guys." ordered Mako as she and Mami both got up and went to pick up a sleeping Nagisa from Rei's mat. "If you find anything let me know." requested Ami while she and Usagi stood up as well. "Are you sure Ami-chan?" Minako asked concerned, "We wouldn't want to get in the way if your search." "Search? Is that why she was on that thing all day? What are you even looking for?" "Well if you've had heard Nanami-san a friend of mine that's also a magical girl was attacked yesterday by a classmate that was brainwashed into doing so and the magical girl she's roomed with has never dealt with this sort of thing before so I'm searching for someone who has and try to convince them to move to where she lives and help her out in case it happens again." "Oh ok." "I just really want her to be safe so I'll do whatever it takes to help T-" "Mozzarella!"

They all turned to Nagisa, who had just yelled out a cheese in her sleep. "Aw, even her sleep she thinks about cheese." cooed Mako while Mami giggled at the sight. Everyone else smiled at the sight but soon went back to business. "So anyway, it won't be any trouble at all Minako-chan." "Alright then, let's go." "Um just a minute though." interjected Usagi. They all looked to her, Nanami in annoyance for having time with Minako being postponed for a bit. "What is it Usagi-chan?" asked Rei, wondering what her friend needed. Usagi looked down for a while but lifted her head up with confidence when she felt that she could say what was on in her mind.

"I'm going to see Her." Her? "Her? What do you-" Rei stopped when she realized who she meant, her eyes widening in horror with the other Inner senshi doing the same. "Usagi-chan…" "No…" "You can't possibly mean…" "Usagi-chan you can't!" The senshi were terrified and the Puella and Nanami were confused, Usagi' Usagi closed her eyes but then opened them, determination flaring within. "I have to see Her." "Usagi-chan you can't see Her! She's crazy!" "Did you forget what She did?" Usagi shook her head and said it again: "I have to see Her." "Who is she talking about?" Mami whispered to Mako. Mako cupped her hand around her ear and told her the answer, making Mami gasp in horror. From seeing her former mentor's reaction, Kyoko deduced who this "Her" was and her own eyes widened with fear as well. Nanami was the only one in the room left out of the loop (unless the still sleeping Nagisa counted as well).

"W-what's going on?" she stuttered out, back tracking next Minako a bit, "Who's "Her"?" Minako looked at the floor but pulled her head up as soon as she felt Nanami needed to know as well. She leaned down to her ear, cupping her hand around it, making Nanami blush, and whispered: "The Devil." The Devil? Nanami's own eyes widened in horror when she realized who she meant and she her back fell to the wall, sliding against it. "No," she breathed out, quivering, "no, no, no, no!" Usagi gazed around the room, both her friends new and old looking back at her in horror. She once again said: "I have to see Her." "Usagi-chan you can't!" ordered Rei, "You had Her locked away for a reason." "I know Rei-chan but I have to see Her." "Usagi-chan…" "Please everyone, let me go see Her. I promise I'll have someone with me when I do it so please let me see Her." The Sailor senshi looked around the room in different directions until they all knew they couldn't turn down their princess's request.

"I'll take you Usagi-chan." Mako offered, Mami touching her arm. "We'll Sailor Teleport to my place and drop off Nagisa and Mami-san, after that we'll go to the Outer's." Usagi nodded. "Thank you Mako-chan."

* * *

Once that was all over everyone went their separate ways: Ami went home, Usagi and Mako transformed and Sailor Teleported away with Nagisa and Mami, and Rei, Minako, Nanami, and Kyoko were on their way to T.A. Nanami, having changed from her robes to a powdery blue tie collared dress with white flats, walked directly behind Minako, staring at her longingly. She then felt Kyoko nudge her with her elbow and looked at her. "For ¥90,000, I'll tell you what to compliment her about." she whispered. Nanami frowned at her. "70,000." "No 90,000." "70,000, take it or leave it." "I'm giving you high quality advice so I deserve a high price." "I'm not giving you more than-" "Mm hmm." The two stopped their bickering when Rei interrupted them and swallowed thickly when they saw the death glare she was giving them. Once she turned her gaze away from them they finished their deal. "Is 80,000 good?" "Perfect." Kyoko then whispered something into her ear, Nanami nodding and blushing at her words. "Uh Minako-san," she started, her crush turning to face her. "Yeah?" Nanami blushed again. "You, you- you look really good in this light!" Nanami blushed even more, embarrassed by saying that, while Minako looked at her and smiled. "Oh thanks." she replied, making Nanami sigh in relief that she didn't humiliate herself. Soon enough they were at the school.

Rei was rattling the gates, trying to get them to open, but found no such luck. "It's locked." she said when she gave up. Kyoko sighed in response. "Well if that's the case," she held out her hand, the ring on her finger glowing red and changing into her soul gem, "I'll get us in." She was about to transform only for Rei to cover her soul gem. "The school already has a big gaping hole in it," she explained, "it doesn't need anymore property damage than this." Kyoko tched, her soul gem reverting back to a ring. "Well then how do you suggest we get inside?" "Easy, we'll climb over them." answered Minako. The gates were at most ten feet high, but with her quick thinking Minako took out her Love Whip and threw one end over the gates, reaching through them to pull it to their side. She pulled herself up on it, placing a foot on top of a rose for footing, and climbed up it. Once she made it to the top she flipped over and jumped down, landing right on her feet. Rei and Kyoko followed after, soon leaving Nanami all alone outside the school.

"Come on Nanami, get over here." Rei ordered. Nanami tentatively touched the whip, looking at it in worry. "Are you sure it's safe?" "Sure it's safe, we got over here without any harm." assured Minako, Nanami immediately believing her words. She reached as high as her arm would allow and grabbed the whip and once she stepped on one the linked roses she started climbing. It was pretty easy, sort of reminded her of the test of endurance in gym. Soon Nanami made it to the top of the gates and lied her body against it, placing one leg on the side with the others. But once she tried to do it with the other leg she lost her grip on the gate and fell. She screamed at the top of her lungs, her eyes screwed shut in fear knowing that she would hit the hard cobblestone ground. But she didn't; instead she landed in something else. Nanami opened her eyes, surprised she didn't land on the ground like she thought she would, and as she looked around she found that she had landed right in the arms of Minako. "Are you ok?" Minako asked, looking for any sign that showed Nanami was harmed. Nanami blushed, Minako's face being but a few inches near her own, but she answered her nonetheless. "Y-yes."

Minako lowered her arms, allowing Nanami to get out of her arms and stand on her own. "So now what?" said Kyoko, looking around the entrance way of the school. "We look around and try to find any clues that prove that those two are behind all of this destruction." "And I know just how to do it!" exclaimed Minako. From a pocket from her jeans she pulled out a golden crescent with stars and a crescent moon with a solitary red jewel on it and held it up over her head. "Moon Power," she cried out, the crescent opening to reveal itself to be a compact with its mirrors shining brightly, "Turn us into a bunch of nuns!" The light in the mirrors rotated around them and then soon shined brighter than ever encompassing all four girls in it. The sensation felt a little strange to Nanami yet somehow invigorating, the light being warmer than the cool ball of light that appeared on her chest to take her swords out- She dismissed that thought, focusing more on the light wrapping around her. Soon the light dissapated and when it did Nanami found herself and the others dressed like nuns. Kyoko was lifting up the ends of dress in confusion and disgust while Rei was scorning Minako. "We're trying not to get caught here Minako-chan," she reminded sternly as Minako sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, "plus we're practically the only ones here, why would we even need a disguise?" "Oh I'm sorry Rei-chan, I guess it's a," she grinned mischievously, lifting the end of her outfit, "bad habit of mine." Nanami snorted, covering her mouth to try and stifle the giggles while Rei and Kyoko glared at Minako incredulously.

Rei sighed, telling everyone to split up and look for anything that would prove if the new nun and teacher were enemies or not. But as soon as they turned around and went off to go and search in different directions Nanami gasped. "Look!" Nanami pointed at the school's church, the stained glass windows illuminated from the inside and the grand double doors opened wide enough to allow just a sliver of light through. "Should it be like that now?" she hesitantly asked. Rei squinted at the sight. "In this kind of place at this hour, I don't think so." The four of them went directly to the church and peeked through the doors' opening, seeing that just about every candle inside was lit. Rei pulled one of the doors opened as slowly and quietly as possible, with the few creaks heard every now and then worrying each of them, allowing the entrance way to be wide enough for one to enter at a time.

They hurried inside behind one another, their steps slowing down enough to take a good view of everything inside the church. Rei then gasped, immediately hiding behind an archway next to a row of pews. Minako and Kyoko did the same when they saw what had made Rei gasped, leaving Nanami the only one left out the loop darting her head around in every direction possible before being pulled away by Rei grabbing the back of her habit. She landed on her back, everyone else crouched down behind the pew, and lifted herself up with her elbows. "What's going on?" she demanded only to be immediately shushed by all of them. Rei lifted her eyes above the pew then motioned for everyone else to do the same. One after the other they peeked above the wooden benches and Nanami now saw the reason they were hiding: right at the alter of the church was Sister Cereza. At the moment she was reading something aloud from a book, a bible most likely. "What is she doing?" whispered Nanami. "Doing nun stuff I guess." Kyoko answered. "Wow that's really specific." "Hey it's not like I have any ideas either, unless your pea sized brain can come up with something?" "What did you just say!" "Oh was I talking too fast? I said that-" "Will you two be quiet!" Rei harshly whispered. "Yeah we need to be able to hear what she's saying." "Sorry Minako-san." "Yeah whatever, it's her fault." "Why you-" "Is all of that really necessary?"

All four girls ducked down, Nanami clamping her hands over her mouth. Rei looked over again, nodding when it was safe for the others to do so. Romee was in the church now, having just interrupted Sister Cereza's task, not that she seemed to mind at all. "No," she admitted, smiling at the other woman, "but I can't help but put on one hell of an act." Romee smiled back at her, although there was something else to it. "Ah yes, how could I forget how much you care for your theatrics." Cereza giggled. "While we're speaking about acting, might I say you've put on quite the show as a teacher?" Romee sighed. "Oh please you have no idea how difficult it can be. Everywhere I go I always see the same kind of moronic students who barely even listen to a word I say. Just today one of them was spacing out in some sort of day dream that I had to drop a textbook right next to the girl to bring her back to reality. It's stressful really." "Stressful hmm?" Cereza closed the book, putting it down, going to Romee and wrapping her arms around her from behind. "I think I know a way to relieve that." she whispered huskily into her ear. Romee smiled, turning her head to her. The two tilted their heads in opposite ways and kissed each other ever so sweetly but pulled away when they heard a squeak. "What was that?" "It must've been a mouse or something."

Nanami was now pinned down behind the pew by Minako and Kyoko, both of their hands over her mouth, with Rei harshly shushing her. Once she could remain quiet enough they all returned to their positions. "Isn't that against their vows?" she asked quietly, still shocked by Cereza's actions. "Maybe it's a loop hole." suggested Minako, surprised as well. "Be quiet," Rei reminded them, "besides she's probably not a real nun." Just then the a bright golden light was emitted in the church right above the alter, coupled with an angelic chorus harmonizing. Everyone inside looked up, two in acknowledgement and four in confusion. "Well Jeanne, it looks like our friends have arrived." Cereza announced. Romee- Jeanne nodded, a smirk growing on her lips. "Indeed they have," she agreed, moving closer to the most likely false nun. "Now let's give them a show that they'll never forget." "You got it."

Cereza lifted up her arm, tracing a circle in the air which in turn created an odd symbol of sorts that glowed purple. The two nodded at each other and jumped in through it, not appearing on the other side and the symbol itself disappearing. "W-what just happened?" asked Nanami horribly confused as she got up from behind the pew with the others. Just then a loud slam resounded throughout the church. The four girls jumped at that and then turned around, finding at their own horror the double doors completely closed. "No," breathed out Nanami as she gazed at them in absolute horror and disbelief, "no, no, NO!" She tore her wimple off and ran to the doors, banging her fists against them to try and open them, only to find no such luck all while still screaming. "Nanami calm down!" ordered Minako as she rushed towards the girl and turned her around, finding tears welling up in her eyes. "It's alright Nanami," she assured, "we can still get out of here. Besides nothing else bad can happen."

One of the pillars at the alter bursted, crumbling at the top and falling down. All the girls looked towards it and then heard gun shots as small holes and cracks were being created in the banister that the pillar was under. "What the hell is this?" Kyoko demanded as she saw more and more destruction. "They're probably doing this." deduced Rei, fists tightening in anger. She then turned around to the rest of them, fury and determination all over her face. "Everyone transform!" Minako and Kyoko nodded, Rei seeing such ran ahead and cried out, "Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!", resulting in a blaze of fire wrapping around her to then ping off and leave her as Eternal Sailor Mars. Kyoko and Minako ran behind her transforming as well, Kyoko in a quick burst of red light over her entire body and Minako with ribbons of orange and yellow light wrapping around her. Nanami looked on at them as they jumped up into the air and simultaneously hit something, making it leave an oddly shaped hole in the wall behind the alter. She hid behind the pew again as she could only stare at the scene in front of her.

Mars, Venus, and Kyoko bounced back from the hit, landing against the banister over the pews, and jumped right back in. Mars pulled out her ofuda, Kyoko readied her spear, and Venus lassoed her whip around the iron chandelier to be able to move around in the air more easily. Mars aimed her ofuda around the room until it finally stuck to something that then fell to the floor making a crater much like the one outside. As Kyoko jumped down to stab it, Venus stood on the chandelier shooting a beam in every direction before noticing Nanami was hiding in the pews. "Nanami what are you doing?" she called out, nearly losing her balance when something hit the chandelier before gripping the stem tightly. "Come and help us!" Nanami was frightened from watching the girls fight invisible opponents but when Minako had cried out to her she felt like a downright weak failure. "I-I-I can't!" she stammered out, her nails digging into the wood of the pew as she clutched it. Venus looked towards her, completely confused by her remark. "What do you mean you can't?" "I-I just can't!" What was she thinking coming along on something like this? All she had wanted was to get closer to Minako but instead she had to face this nightmare! Was this something that all magical girls had to face?

Screwing her eyes shut and covering her ears, Nanami ducked down trying to tune just about everything that was happening out. Then out of nowhere she felt something grab both of her shoulders. She looked behind herself only to see absolutely nothing but soon enough realized that what ever was still holding her was now picking her up and lifted off into the air. She screamed at the top of her lungs when she was only about an inch off of the pews which soon turn to 5 inches then to 10 then to a foot and 3 quarters to then far too high for her liking. "Help! Help! HELP!" The Goddess of Love heard Nanami's cry while she was still shooting her obscured enemies and was horrified when she turned around and saw the girl being carried away by who she could most likely assume were their foes. "Nanami!" As anger rushed all throughout her, Venus grabbed her whip, unwrapping itself from the chandelier, and threw it over to the one dangling over the pews where Nanami was, tying itself around the base of it. Venus jumped off, swinging from her whip towards Nanami with a heel aimed right at her attempted kidnapper. "Let her go!" She managed to kick the assailant when she felt her foot hit something away and saw Nanami fall from its grip. Able to grab the girl before she could fall and leave a grand mess on the floor, Venus swung around to the left only to see that she was aiming to go right through one of the stained glass windows of the church. Alarm was spread all over her features but then hardened into determination as she shuffled Nanami up from her waist to her torso and prepared herself. "Nanami." "Yes?" "Hold on tight to me and close your eyes." "What?" "Just do it!"

Nanami did as she was told, moving her hands from Minako's shoulders to wrapping her arms around her neck and closing her eyes shut. Seeing that she had done as she ordered her to do, Minako moved her arm that was holding the whip in front of them, elbow aimed right towards the window. With a loud cry she went directly at it and-

**CRASH!**

The window shattered when they went right through it, flecks of multicolored glass flying everywhere. Hearing that the worst part was over, Nanami opened her eyes and looked up to see Minako, who from her view looked so serious, so undaunted, and so… beautiful. The way her golden locks waved about in the air, her cerulean eyes shining brighter than the moonlight reflecting off of the still flying bits of glass, and her features displaying fierce determination were all too gorgeous for words. She gazed up at her in complete captivation, then soon enough Nanami closed her eyes and seized the opportunity of resting her head against her shoulder. Venus pulled on the whip, making it untie itself from the chandelier inside, and landed on one knee on the grounds near the church with Nanami still with her. "Are you ok?" she asked, Nanami lifting her head from her shoulder and pulling her arms away from her neck all while looking deeply at her. "Yes." was her reply. Minako sighed in relief, letting go of the other girl. "Good, that's nice to kn- OW!" Venus grabbed her left elbow as Nanami looked on concerned and shocked. "Are you alright?" she cried as Minako pulled her hand away to reveal bright red splotches blooming against the white of her glove.

"It was from when we broke out through the window." explained Venus, wincing as she tried to pull her glove off. Once it was off (Nanami noting that her fingernails were painted yellow), they both saw cuts ranging from sizes of pin pricks to bottle cap widths on and around Minako's elbow, each and every one of them ready to emit an overflow of blood. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." sputtered Nanami, hesitating on what to do with her crush's injuries. "Nanami it's alright," Minako assured, "it's just a few cuts, nothing so ba- Ow!" Nanami wouldn't listen to her, still stammering on what to do. Then a realization came to her. "We have to cover the wound right?" Nanami reasoned, desperation hanging off of her tone. "All we have to do is just that right?" "Nanami-" "Alright let's get to it!" Nanami grabbed her habit, trying to pull it apart, only to find that either the fabric was too strong or that she herself was too weak. She looked all around, trying to find anything to cover Minako's wounds with. Oh how she wished she still had her wimple with her. Soon enough Nanami got an idea. She pulled her habit up to reveal her feet clad in black loafers with pristine white bobby socks. She pulled one of the shoes off, then the sock, and reached over to Minako's injured elbow and wrapped the sock around it, holding it together with a big loose knot.

"There it's all fine now." Nanami assured, denial hanging off her words. Venus stared at her handiwork and despite the slight pain it gave her she lifted her arm up to give a thumbs up to Nanami. "It's great Nanami." "No it's not." She looked to see Nanami with her head hung low and her hands balled up into fists, quivering all the while. "It's all my fault this happened. If I didn't come along, if I didn't come here, n-none of this would of happened." A tear landed on one of her fists. "I'm completely useless!" Nanami cried out, banging her fists against the concrete ground. "I can't do anything right at all! I'm weak, helpless, afraid, and I can't do anything to help it or help you out with whatever the hell was going on in there! I! AM! USELESS!" Minako could see tears streaming down Nanami's face, sympathy welling up inside of her. "Nanami it's ok, you're not useless at all." the senshi promised as she touched her shoulder. "Sure you were afraid and had no idea what was going on, we all were too believe it or not. It's alright for even a magical girl to-" "Don't call me that!"

Nanami harshly shrugged her hand away from her shoulder, unable to look at her. "I'm not a magical girl," she whimpered out, "I don't have powers, I don't transform, I don't collect things, I don't fight monsters, I don't do any of that!" Minako gazed at the girl, her brows furrowed in worry and her mouths pursed in concern. "Don't worry Nanami it's alright, every kind of magical girl is different and therefore do different things, you're still a magical-" "Didn't you hear me!" Nanami demanded, tears rolling down her face as she lifted it to face Minako. "I don't know how or why the cat says I'm a magical girl, I'm not, I've never even used magic before except, except…" Nanami trailed off, images of Ohtori flashing before her. The school, her lackeys, the other student council members, the odd pair of Tenjou and Himemiya, her brother, the duels-

Nanami started sobbing harder than before, hiding her face in her hands. It was awful, too awful, to even think about, to even remember, to even pass her mind. She continued crying till a pair of arms came around and embrace her. She lifted her eyes from her hands to find that Minako was hugging her. "Nanami," she stated, holding her tighter, "no matter what anyone, or even you, say so negatively about yourself I will always think of you as the most helpful, strongest, bravest magical girl that I have ever known who can always help out others." Nanami's eyes widened at those words, tears still trickling down her cheeks continuing to do even so when she closed them.


End file.
